Ain't Love Crazy
by justsomeone2010
Summary: Thor and Jane are studying at University, at completely different ends of the social spectrum. Thor the ever popular jock and Jane famed for her intelligence. There was no way a guy like him would blink twice at a science geek like her, she told herself diligently. Never. Until a chance bump at a Uni party proves her completely wrong...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Jane juggled the binders of paper in her arms, unable to catch all the loose fly-aways that fluttered away behind her. _Damned astrophysics_, she thought with a scowl. _Always so much paperwork. _

She knew she was getting funny looks, but Jane hardly cared. She wasn't friends with these people. Their opinion wouldn't affect her life – what did she have to gain by caring about what they thought of her? She had a spread reputation anyway: brilliant, but cluttered. It was common knowledge that Jane was the most disorganised student at the Novem Regna University. She was lucky if she went even a few days without someone knocking on her apartment door to return some of her escaped work to her.

By the time she had reached the cafeteria, she was just about ready to throw the binders out the window, the weight making her arms ache. She dropped them down with a loud thud onto her table.

"I'm not sure I can take this much longer." She whined as she took her seat, her friend's eyes wide from the bang of the folders.

Darcy blinked, fries falling from her fingers back down onto the plate. Her mouth hung open at the shock of binders sat opposite her as Jane settled herself. "How do you carry that?" she finally spluttered in awe. "That must weigh a ton!"

Jane pulled a face and reached across to nab herself a fry. "It does, and I have the bruises to show for it."

Her eyes wondered round the cafeteria lazily. As per always it was packed, loud and noisy, the typical stereotypes grouped at certain tables. Jane sat at one of the science tables – and technically Darcy was intruding, being the political student she was, but being Jane's friend she was excused. She wasn't the only rule breaker. The most famous case was of the Odinson brothers: one studying Classics, while the other studied some Physical Health and Exercise course. They both sat together on the jock table.

Jane's eyes found them instinctively. The jock table was where most girls amused themselves to look when they were bored – the guys there were simply eye-candy.

Thor Odinson stood out like a shining star, his golden hair and electric blue eyes making him nothing much short of it. His body was thick with broad muscle, build and packed with strength that made Jane's stomach flip. Beside him, as always, was his smaller, leaner, and darker haired brother Loki.

"You need to bag yourself one." Darcy said, noticing where Jane's line of sight lingered and following the same. "They'd be able to carry your stuff easy."

Jane hummed in agreement, letting her eyes hover over Thor's bulking biceps thoughtfully. Then she remembered herself and tore away, facing back to Darcy with a far from happy expression. "As if." She scoffed. "We're the people they label 'geeks' remember? Like any of them would have the time for me."

"You underestimate us." Darcy dismissed, shamelessly leaning around Jane to stare some more at the well-built jocks. "We're hot. And smart. Deep down, it's exactly what those kind of boys crave."

Jane let her eyes roll and merely sighed, flipping open her folder to some random pages. Her eyes ghosted over the data but it was just numbers, meaningless to her unfocussed brain. She had to make sense of it somehow. The deadline was coming in faster than she was working to it.

"There's a party going on down East Block tonight. Want to come?"

Jane didn't even look up. "Can't. Professor Selvig is drilling us for this data report. And I haven't even made a dent in it."

"Don't you understand the concept of balance?" Darcy groaned across the table, trying to draw her friend from her work. "All work and no play, and all that. I swear, you take one night to chill out and that stuff will come to you like God is putting it in your brain himself."

That drew Jane's up, and she fixed a look on her friend. "Will you keep it down?!" she hissed, eyes flickering to the science geeks along the rest of the table. They remained thankfully oblivious. "How many times do I have to tell you not to mention the G-word amongst the science lot? They get really touchy about it."

Touchy was an understatement. The science geeks reacted to religion violently, almost always sparking off a long, loud rant condemning the faith. Last time, the vicar students had got involved. It hadn't ended pleasantly.

"As if I care." Darcy blew off with a wave of her hand. "Come on – just come. Thor's going. And Loki."

Jane lowered her gaze to her work, knowing Darcy would read her mind if she could see the windows of her eyes. "I don't care." Was it a lie? … no. At least, not entirely. While she admitted vigorously that Thor Odinson was just… ugh, was there even a word to describe just how incredible he was physically? But she didn't pin herself to it like some of the other girls did, obsessing and dreaming. Jane just noticed. And that was where she drew the line.

"Yeah, right! You totally like him."

Jane's eyes lifted before she could catch herself, mouth shooting open defensively. "I do not!" She cursed her pinkening cheeks.

Darcy's grin widened, and she said nothing, knowing she'd got the upper hand. She didn't need to say it aloud; Jane's reluctant scowl affirmed she knew it too.

Jane sighed and let her shoulders slump, her work leaving her mind once and for all. She didn't like Thor… did she? She was meant to be a scientist, cold hearted and factual. She'd always assumed that was how she treated Thor. Like a test subject to be observed.

Would she really care if Thor got a girlfriend and it wasn't her? Would she be interested if he wanted _her _as a girlfriend? She didn't dare think about it, let alone answer, afraid of the result.

They were too different anyway, Jane decided in her head, spinning round in her chair to get a look at the guy in question. Just one look at his laughing face confirmed Jane's suspicions. All other reasons aside, the biggest difference was definitely in their levels of attractiveness. Jane was small and mousy looking, a calm strength blazing in her brown eyes, while Thor practically reeked of sex and testosterone! He was way out of her league.

And he did a sport course. That could give you a body like Hercules, but it didn't fight off the dumb-as-a-post stigma that was attached to the big arms and eight pack muscles. He wasn't the brainy type. One look at his naively happy smile told her that.

She couldn't fight the wave of disappointment though…

Then electric blue shocks registered in her orbs and her heart froze in horror – the sports star was looking back.

Her mouth fell open in dread as the handsome face lifted and returned her stare, his lips still pricked in a grin, crystal blue orbs just… wow. His face was soft, and open, no trace of a 'what you lookin' at?' hostility at all. His smile widened in amusement at her blatant dismay at being caught.

Jane spun around in her chair, heart hammering inside her chest. A laugh rose from the table behind her and she wondered paranoid if they were laughing at her.

Darcy arched a slyly questioning eyebrow. She didn't even need to say it.

Jane scowled, her pride bruised and shot her friend a narrow eyed look before she rose, made a hasty grab for her binders and practically fled from the cafeteria. Hundreds of eyes followed her, but one bright blue pair stood out more than the rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jane groaned and threw her pen down in frustration. _This was impossible_, she thought, staring down at the figures with hatred. How could she compare results when half of her data was missing?!

She must have left one of her binders behind, she realised glumly. Back in the cafeteria. From when she'd ran away.

Her face burned with the shame of earlier, remembering all too clearly the humiliation. The stares, the whispers – but how much worse it could have undoubtedly been if they actually knew why she made such a dramatic exit! It would feed the gossip network for months. Jane Foster, prodigy science genius, interested in the University beefcake.

When had she sunk to such levels? Why, oh, why…

Finally, Jane sighed and set her pen down in defeat. It was hopeless. She couldn't compare this data against itself. Until she had the other block of information...

And she wouldn't be getting that tonight. She propped her cheek up on a fist and leaned her elbow up on the desktop of her dorm room. Now what? No data, no report, no Selvig lecture free month for her.

Her mind strayed to East Block.

Maybe Darcy had a point, she started to wonder. Would it kill her to go to this party just relax for a bit? She was getting sick of dreaming of formulae it was so constantly on her mind. Perhaps an outlet was exactly what she needed. Her eyes strayed to her unfinished work on the desk; it wasn't like she could do anything else tonight was it? Sit in the apartment by herself and be miserable, or go to a party and have a bit of fun?

Decisions, decisions…she was striding down to East Block before she knew it. The very building seemed to pulse in time with the music and Jane felt her heartbeat melt into the rhythm.

She hadn't been to a party in a long time. Sure she'd done the whole crazy first year experience like everyone else had… but then her first year had ended and her social life had dried up pitifully since. She was quickly reminded of what she'd been missing out on though, as she met a bunch of staggering, slurring students filling the corridors.

Jane lost herself amongst their ranks, weaving through with her eyes peeled on the look-out for Darcy. She was the main reason she'd come after all. Her eyes scanned the thick throng of people for the familiar dark hair and an outfit she might recognise from Darcy's wardrobe, but body after body passed and Jane remained Darcy-less. Nothing.

She turned on the spot as she reached near the end of the crowded corridor and stared back. Was Darcy not here after all? There was no trace of her in the corridor. Jane picked her way back through, making a pit-stop to the kitchen on her way and grabbing a plastic cup full of… _something alcoholic_, she assumed. Her sharp gaze found the open door of the partying apartment and she wove towards it hopefully, being sure to return every careless nudge she got with a very deliberate one back. She didn't like getting shoved around.

The music was loud and reverberating inside the apartment and Jane felt the blood pound in her ears as she looked around it. The space was full of dancing party goers jumping to the beat while the walls were lined with lip-locking couples.

Jane grimaced at them and moved on.

_Hopeless_, she realised soon, coming to a halt in the middle of the make shift dance floor and staring around her. Either Darcy wasn't here, or she'd relocated to another party, or…maybe Jane was just bad at finding people.

She shrugged to herself and her gaze dropped to the cup in her hands. She was pretty sure the clear substance wasn't water. Another shrug, and she was downing it in one.

It was a move she quickly regretted.

At first it was fine … then it kicked in. She lowered the cup from her lips with an innocent blink, before her head suddenly span and her knees weakened, the world suddenly becoming a disoriented mass of lights and bodies. She felt herself staggering and reached out for something to support her – anything! The cup fell from her numb hand as her fingers gripped the fabric of someone's sleeve.

"Are you alright?" A voice; deep and low, the shirt she gripped turning with it. Jane stumbled to keep a hold, but a strong arm at her shoulder held her level.

_No_, Jane wanted to answer, her head still reeling from the drink. God, she was an idiot for doing that in one gulp. Then again, Jane never had been one for patience. Pacing herself didn't seem to be her strong suit. Her throat still burned with the alcohol, but she lifted her gaze to try and communicate with her eyes – they soon gleamed with horror.

Jane stared up, heart dropping to her stomach as her expression twisted into one of absolute mortification. The towering, light eyes of Thor Odinson stared back down at her. Any words Jane had been about to say turned to powder – Thor Odinson. _Thor Odinson!_

Of all the people she could have grabbed on to – _why him?! _She started to remember the English-ness to the voice, and cursed herself for not noticing it before.

The guy stood there, tall enough to blot out the sun, his deliciously muscular form dressed in jeans and a smooth button up shirt. He looked smart and cool – even with the plastic cup of alcohol in his hand, though his clean bright eyes and steady stance told Jane he was sober himself. He put her leggings and long shirt to shame, Jane thought with a blush.

A dazzling smile stretched on Thor's lips and he let his hand fall away from her shoulder, as Jane righted herself, the alcohol's affects fading slightly.

"You had the clear stuff." He said in that wonderfully deep voice, rumbling with power that made Jane's heart unwillingly flutter. And that smile… "None of us are quite sure what it is, but it is lethal."

Jane's lips stretched of their own disbelieving accord, and she realised he was talking about the drink. She made sure to avoid the clear stuff in future. Unless, some special circumstances changed her mind. And one of those 'special circumstances' was standing right in front of her. She felt she needed as drink just to give her the courage to talk to him!

She knew Darcy had said he'd be here – but being there, and being stood before Jane and talking to her were too different things! Her eyes wondered taking in his cool golden hair and those crisp blue eyes that were as bold as ice.

Then they sharpened. "Hey…" His finger pointed slowly, and Jane saw the recognition start to creep into his gaze, brow frowning slightly. Her heart skipped a beat. "Don't I know you?"

Jane throat ran dry. _Oh God._ "No!"

It blurted from her mouth instantly and she stepped back – bumping into dancers and sending them staggering back into a kissing couple. She turned and stammered a hasty apology before turning back to Thor, watching with dread the grin spread on his face. Her moment of clumsiness refreshed his memory. "You were in the cafeteria this morning." He enlightened himself, eyes lighting with amusement as he relived those memorable few moments.

A little part of Jane's soul died inside. Oh God, she thought – where was that lethal drink when she needed it?

Thor chuckled at her soured expression, the sound rumbling from his chest like thunder. Her cheeks flushed.

"It's alright." The giant boomed in a voice that was less arrogant than she'd expected. His English accent made his words sound clear, crisp and polite. However he said it – _it was not alright_, Jane grumbled in her head. "What's your name?"

Jane fought against the heat in her cheeks and forced her eyes to lift. Thor's wondrous orbs held her attentions avidly. "Jane."

Thor smiled stayed warm. "Thor. If it helps, I never would have noticed had my brother not had such a sharp eye."

It didn't help, but Jane appreciated the effort. Why was he so nice? Popular people were normally just… _argh._ But this one was being unnaturally kind, his voice soft and considerate, his smile honest and genuine. For all the mind boggling things she knew about the universe, the most stunning thing she struggled to get her head round was the mystery of Thor Odinson.

"And I would never be here if Darcy didn't have such a big mouth." grumbled from Jane's lips automatically at his remark, voice souring.

It was all Darcy's fault; she'd told her about the party. If she'd let Jane remain mercifully oblivious she never would have come to East Block, never would have had her pride destroyed like she had earlier, and she wouldn't have her mind so mud-stuck on God-damned Thor-

"Darcy…" Thor's brow creased slightly as the name rang a bell. "That wouldn't happen to be a Miss Darcy Lewis, would it?"

Now it was Jane's turn to frown. "Yes. How'd you know Darcy?"

Thor's face cleared, replaced with a light amused smile, eyes still off to the corner in thought. "I don't really, but she seems rather taken with my brother. It was she who invited us to this party after you left earlier. Rather persistent, isn't she?"

He shot a light hearted grin down at her but Jane's jaw merely dropped as she drank in his words. Darcy had invited him? _After_ she'd left? But that meant…

"But she told me you were already going!" she blurted, hands flying over her betraying mouth in an instant.

Not quick enough though: Thor's grin widened as he pieced it together too, ego swelling proudly. "So you came here for me?" he shifted his weight onto one leg cockily, letting smugness and vanity wash over him. He knew his answer with solid resolute long before Jane's cheeks flushed scarlet. He laughed boomingly.

Jane bit down on her lying response on her tongue, feeling shame wash over her. _That's it_, she thought with narrowed eyes. _Here was definitely a mistake._

"At least you are honest." Thor grinned, subduing his chuckles. The spark stayed in his orbs though. A shift in the strong muscle of his bicep caught Jane's attention back and she followed it to the cup he held out to her. "I had got this for myself, but…" his eyes washed up and down Jane's tense, touchy form with an unmovable grin. "You look like you need it more."

Jane just took it. What did she have to lose anymore? "Thanks." She didn't care what it was that she was drinking as she accepted the cup and tipped the liquid down her throat in one long gulp. _That was it_, she thought. Pride shredded, dignity on the floor – she might as well get wasted.

She caught Thor's eyebrows lift out of the corner of her eyes and felt a glimmer of pride that she could impress the Englishman. Her head was giddy when she threw the cup away.

Thor grabbed a cup from a passing partier and downed it too, mirroring Jane. She felt her footing stagger as she watched him, the alcohol spinning her brain in her skull. Was it just her or was the music louder? Something told her she'd just taken another 'lethal' drink.

Oops.

The sports star was grinning as he finished his drink and glanced down at her, noting the way she started to sway. His hand touched her arm to steady her, grin swelling under the alcohol's influence.

"Are you okay?" he shouted over the music as the volume pulsed louder, watching Jane's eyes cross with a dazed look.

She blinked a few times to clear her head. It didn't work as well as she hoped. Her hand reached out to Thor and found his bicep again, resting against the hard muscle as she screwed her eyes shut.

She could feel the drink flowing through her: her mind loosened, her body relaxed, and Jane felt a warmth flood through her that had nothing to do with the close proximity of her dream-guy. Her heart thudded, and by the time she'd reopened her eyes, the world was steadier. And bolder.

A smile spread on her lips despite the lingering weakness in her knees, and she giggled. _Giggled_. Yup – she was definitely losing her mind.

But with a new bar of confidence and Thor stood in front of her, grinning at her reaction, she didn't care. He didn't seem so intimidating anymore. He was so cute – why couldn't Jane just talk to him for a bit? Where was the harm?

"Where in England are you from?" she shouted over the music, her hips feeling strangely loose and restless. Her hand didn't lift from his arm.

Thor smiled on, his hand lingering at Jane's shoulder. "Oxford." He said, in that alluring accent of his.

"You didn't like it there?" Jane knew nothing about Oxford. She couldn't even pinpoint it on a map if he'd asked her. Still, she imagined all of England was just as wet and grainy. "Why did you move?"

Thor seemed to roll the question around in his head for a moment, eyes lifting to some imaginary corner in thought. A lopsided grin started to spread on his face as he found his answer: "For the adventure of it." He finally settled on firmly, with a resolute nod of his head.

Jane's smile mirrored his. _For the adventure of it_… she liked that answer.

She offered no objection as Thor suddenly surfaced with a bottle of suspiciously clear liquid from a passing friend, and offered it out to her. She took a deep swig it, hand clenching in the material of Thor's shirt as her mind swam.

It didn't stop her taking another gulp. Nor another, and another. Jane wasn't sure how many sips she'd taken before her head was out-of-this-world light from her body, and she had steadying hands on both of Thor's sleeves, feeling the hard, firm muscles of his arms beneath the material.

_What the hell?,_ she thought, letting her head bow to the sports star in training, his large hand cupping her shoulder in case her hold wasn't enough. She suspected his actions were only forty per cent guided by concern though. Just as hers were; the other sixty per cent was just for the sake of having some part of him to touch. Her head was too clotted and clouded with the lethal alcohol to listen to any sort of reason though, and she melted into the warm touch.

This was it – she'd had such a messed up week and now she got to let loose with the hottest guy she'd ever _seen_, let alone met! Screw being cautious. Her hips swayed to the music and she lifted her eyes to Thor's cocky smirk, her soul singing happily at the way his darkened orbs swathed over her.

Sober Jane would be blushing. Sober Jane would have sense to take her hands away, to ease back rather than forward into his arms.

But she was drunk and so was she.

Their alcohol induced confidence boosted grins met simultaneously, sharing the same thoughts between them; this night was far from over.

**NOTE**

**Had to make him from Oxford, I'm afraid. Special place in my heart for that place (even though I've never been myself, but my Nana was from there – so accept it!) :P**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Time blurred. Seconds blended into minutes. Minutes blurred into hours and vice versa. In the end Jane didn't know how long she spent with her hands on the gorgeous man with his arms around her – all she knew was that it wasn't enough. It could have been days Jane smiled up at him with a drink infused confidence and she wouldn't have cared.

And Thor didn't seem to either. The lopsided smirk that gleamed with an arrogance Jane just found incredibly sexy never left his lips, matched with sparkled with mischief as they watched her.

The bottle was long gone; the clear liquid now burned through their blood stream, kicking up the confidence of every body part it flowed through. Hips swayed. Eyes sparkled. Grins lured. And minds stayed blissfully oblivious to any of it being anything other than perfectly normal.

Thor couldn't deny it – he was fascinated. Jane Foster was something new to him, a sort of girl he had never experienced before. She'd _blushed_! He reckoned that was what had sealed it. As soon as that adorable flash of colour had hit her cheeks, he had been entranced. He didn't know many girls that blushed. Most of them he encountered were shameless with forwardness. But that shy flush … oh, it massaged Thor's ego in ways no mere compliment could.

Thor's hands had managed to slip round to her back, encasing Jane in a surrounding barrier of muscle. She seemed more than willing to be his prisoner. Her own hands were straying from his arms, palms flattening over his broad chest and shoulders.

This girl… where did Thor even begin? He couldn't believe he'd never been interested in her before! Everything about her was just incredible: her luscious pink lips and seductive brown orbs, slim knockout body and – _damn it_, Thor thought with an impressed growl – she was _smart_. Beauty and brains. Jane was quite literally the complete package of a girl.

He started to question why the hell she was still with him rather than the other way around! Thor wasn't going to waste a moment of this opportunity.

Thor dipped his head down low and placed his lips by her ear. Her body stilled to listen. "Boyfriend?" He asked through his tone, voice lower and huskier than he'd intended it to be. "I need to know if I should expect a challenger."

His conscience spoke. It was the last scrap of morality the alcohol haze would allow through before sensible thought was blotted out for instinct. Even he, as a man, could appreciate the out of order-ness of dancing with a taken girl, despite his drunkenness.

Jane giggled, the sound music to Thor's ears. "No, no boyfriend." She affirmed, unknowingly sparking Thor's confidence afresh – no boyfriend, no rules.

Her eyes were glittering as Thor pulled back.

She was single… were the men of this university blind or something? It was the only conclusion Thor could come up with that a girl as stunning as Jane went unclaimed.

His grin spread arrogantly. "Would you like one?"

Sober, he would be mortified. Had he not chivalrously asked her if she was taken just moments ago? And now he was shamelessly going in for the kill. A part of him was shaking its head at his forwardness, but Thor paid it no heed. Didn't ask, didn't get, right? Thor often tangled with girls that were half as pretty as Jane yet had more than twice her confidence and self-assuredness, but none of them had intrigued him as much as this little scientist did.

A smirk pricked at Jane's lips. "I hardly know you." The shy caution crept back into her voice, but it wasn't enough to stop. To pull her hands away. To leave his arms. To stop smiling up at the glow in Thor's eyes. Those orbs were really just incredible; so clear, so piercing.

The shrug lifted the muscular expanse of his shoulders, stomping down Jane's shy side in a heartbeat. She'd been hanging out with Darcy too much, she thought breathlessly to herself, trying to keep her eyes above his broad, muscular torso. She was normally strong and disciplined, above such things like guys and parties. But whether the booze or her friend had been her undoing – if it wasn't the man's charm itself! – her gaze crept lower and lower, stealing tempted, imagining glances of where her hands lay.

Thor leaned in close, grin swathed with confidence. "Now you have the chance." His hot breath washed over her cheek, and Jane would have squirmed at the alcohol taste in the air had it not consumed her too.

_That accent_ … oh, where did Jane even begin? Every sound and syllable so clear and pristine, so crisp and cut – it was just divine. The English accent was definitely a keeper. And the tone he used, the perfect combination of strength and softness made her understand just how girl's hearts could melt in their chests at his words. She could listen to him talk all day.

His hand ran coolly through his blond hair as he straightened back again, brushing the overhanging strands from his light eyes. They weren't discouraged in the slightest. "Or perhaps I can get to know you in return."

The breath that left Jane was shuddering.

He was flirting with her_. Thor Odinson_ was flirting with _Jane Foster_ – in what universe did that happen?!

Her eyes suddenly went as round and innocent as Bambi, gleaming up at the most perfect excuse for a man she'd ever laid eyes on. He could have any girl on campus he wanted – and God only knew he had! – and he was interested in _her_? She could hardly take it in, even with her drink induced state.

Then the music track changed and the matter was shoved from her mind violently. The grin spread on her face: "I love this song!"

Thor was forced to surrender his arms from around her as the tune washed over them both, Jane's hands rising to clap together in time with the beat. Her head tipped back, letting her brown hair cascade behind her shoulders. Her hips moved in deliberate bursts to the tune.

Thor smirked, moving with her. She did astrophysics, right? – how could someone who studied something like that be so… _wow_? Her lips moulded around the words of the song thought the volume drowned out her voice. It didn't matter. Thor knew the song, knew exactly what she was saying even if he wasn't the direct subject of it anymore.

The provocative words matched with the glint in her eye – oh, how could Thor resist? Jane wouldn't look twice at him in her right mind. Thor was going to make the most of this night while he had her.

The grin on his face held as his eyes wondered.

"…_with my fingers through your hair…"_

_What would Jane's hair feel like?,_ he wondered in his head. Soft, surely. Locks that glossy had to be. His fingers twitched.

The chorus kicked in and Thor jumped to the beat with Jane, knocking the thoughts from his head. He let himself go, grinning with a seductive mix of pure energy and confidence. Jane smiled back, oblivious to the appreciative thoughts rumbling through Thor's brain.

Thor was having fun. Jane shot back his grin with equal measure, entrancing him in ways above her neckline. That was usually very rare – and yet Jane did it so effortlessly! _How did she do that?_, Thor wondered in awe. He soon found himself less concerned with answer, as long as she didn't stop. How on earth was she interested in him?! He wasn't smart, hardly the type of guy he'd thought she'd go for, even if he did have the looks of the man she deserved. Yet she was dancing with _him_. Drank with _him_. Smiled at _him_ as if he were the only guy in the world.

Thor wasn't complaining.

_Right_, he thought decisively. Playing it safe was over. He never did do things very subtly. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he was sure he wouldn't get a chance like this again. _Let's have some fun._

"_I said no more sailors and no more soldiers, with your name in a heart tattooed upon their shoulders."_

Thor tapped his shoulder playfully at the same time Jane formed a heart over her chest with her fingers and thumbs, sparkling eyes meeting teasingly.

When had she gotten close again? He batted the pointless firmly away when Jane accidentally knocked her hip against his. She was close – that was all that mattered. Thor resisted the urge to put his arms round her and bring her ever nearer, a new idea forming in his mind as he anticipated the next few lyrics.

The clapping formed the main beat of the song, and Thor's eyes sparkled with mischief. He gathered up Jane's fingers in his.

"_My first kiss went a little like this."_

Thor mouthed along with the words, making sure Jane saw every silent syllable from his lips as he lifted her captured hand from her side. Inside his head, Thor shrugged. If he couldn't keep her, maybe the best he could do was leave a good impression. It might score him some brownie points with Jane in the future. If he made a good impression, if she had a good time with him and decided she liked him… well, maybe Jane would let him see more of her, even if it wasn't in the way Thor would prefer.

He was pretty sure he would settle for just a small wave across the cafeteria if it meant she continued to notice him in the future!

In perfect time with the hit of the beat, Thor lifted Jane's small hand to his face and pressed a firm, chaste kiss to her knuckles. His grin glittered down at her, her fingers melting from his as a feminine voice sung the next lyrics.

Jane mimicked him, mouthing the words silently as they played, eyes sparkling at him with teasing glee: "_Well, my first kiss went a little like this."_

Thor had half a second to decide – see what she would do of her own accord or press for himself? In a moment of blind, hasty selfishness he went for the latter. She'd mouthed the words back, hadn't she? He was confident she'd play along; he leant down to Jane's height, turning his head to the side. His finger tapped on his cheek challengingly.

He might never get a chance like this again with Jane. Once sober she'd probably realise just how beyond him she really was and Thor's chances would be blown. For now though …she smirked before leaning forward, pecking a firm kiss to his rough cheek in time with the music.

Thor knew a second hit was to come, one he'd missed with her before. He would not make that mistake again. He hovered in place.

Jane didn't move, her lips still mere millimetres from his cheek as the beat drew ever nearer. Her hand lifted to his hair, fingers lacing into his blond locks of their own accord to make sure he stayed still. Her heart was thumping – she'd just kissed Thor Odinson! And she got to do it all over again. The thought screamed excitedly though her head, but on the outside she stayed calm, fighting the urge to bite her lip in pure anticipation.

She wasn't the only one. Thor's heart was pounding in his chest at the feel of Jane's soft lips pressing against his rough cheek, unable to stop the smile that spread on his face. Not a grin, not a smirk – a _smile_. So innocent even Thor was suspicious of it!

And he had every right to be as his instincts plucked new thoughts into his head. Jane Foster had kissed him once already – albeit on the cheek – and her fingers were in his hair, her body close. Thor would be an idiot if he didn't take this chance. At least that's what he told himself. Impulse twitched in his neck.

A voice screamed in his head not to do it; that it was a mistake and he'd regret it in the morning. He had milliseconds to decide, Jane's lips already puckering and moving in.

Her eyes were shut. _Go on_, a voice encouraged in his head, _what have you got to lose?_ Pride was the worst thing he could come up with. A slap, never seeing Jane look at him without contempt in her eyes… but was it worth it for this one moment?

Something in his brain nodded furiously.

This would be the knife edge – risking everything so far to hold onto it for longer or to lose it all in a heartbeat. It'd either be a great success or a great resounding failure.

Did he _really_ want to risk that? He'd already made so much progress with Jane tonight. His heart thudded with the rush to decide. He could blow it all…

Then the beat clashed with Jane's approaching lips and instinct decided for him – _what the hell!_

Thor's head turned sharply at the very last second. Jane's lips bumped his. The sports star dove his fingers to her hair, holding her head as gently as he could as he pressed his lips against hers, just waiting for the inevitable realisation of what had happened to tear Jane away from him. His hand found her hip, trying to cling onto the moment for a touch longer. Earlier lyrics flashed through his head as he stole his kiss – _"Lips like liquorish, tongue like candy."_ She tasted so sweet, even in that fleeting second Thor noticed it.

Reality crashed back all too soon.

If his eyes were open he was sure he would see Jane's snap open wide – if the hand that had once been in his hair that now pushed against his chest so suggested. Her head jerked back and away with her body, but met the large hands that barred her escape.

Thor let his eyes open again as the pressure of Jane's lips left him; she was breathing heavy, eyes looking strangely focussed and sober for how drunk Thor knew she must be. Hell, they both were – Thor had just kissed her hadn't he! And he was sure Jane would never have danced with him like this in her right mind.

He was all too aware of her hands pressing against his chest. Her eyes darkened slightly and Thor felt his heart plummet.

The gamble hadn't paid off.

Thor braced himself for the impact of her palm against the cheek she'd so recently cherished. He'd risked it all and lost it all.

His conscience started to chip, sobering him up fast; maybe he had gone too far after all. He should have left thing as they were, on good terms – maybe even enough for her to want to meet and talk with him outside the confines of drunken parties! Only now that hope was dashed, obliterated by his own selfish eagerness.

Thor cursed himself. He could have just settled, could he? And now he would have Jane floating in his head and her taste on his tongue.

His tongue flittered out before he could help himself, tasting what was left of her on his lips. Her lip gloss, tangled with the strong infectious taste of the alcohol was just intoxicating – he would not be forgetting that in a hurry!

His orbs darkened with want as he watched her, her taste in his mouth. It wasn't fair, Thor wanted to growl in frustration – he wasn't used to rejection. He could feel Jane holding the breath in her lungs, resisting, her orbs torn with battling emotions Thor didn't dare name for fear of mourning what he'd missed out on.

But his doubting thoughts were soon silenced as if he'd never had them: the air left Jane in a slow, heavy sigh, eyes meeting his fully. They were smouldering.

The beat of the music thundered back in a rush.

Thor endorsed it.

Their lips met in mutual yearning. Eyes fluttering shut against the desires they'd held captive for so long and that they now surrendered to. Mouths moved, tongues tasted, kissing fiercely as if the other was they very air they needed to breathe.

"_She won't ever get enough, once she gets a little touch."_

Jane's hands sank against his chest rather than pushed, and Thor's delved into her soft hair once again. And then in a second, he was everywhere. He loped an arm around her waist while one hand stayed lost in her locks – threading, tugging. Their tongues battled for heated supremacy.

Thor cast caution aside – how could he have thought he'd ever regret this? Jane's body pressed against his as the kiss deepened, hasty and hungry, fuelled on by the pulse of the music, and Thor knew this was something he'd remember until his dying day.

His hand found her neck and tipped her head back, Jane's gasp granting him power over her tongue as the move caught her off guard. She was soon back though. Her small hands distracted him, one minute lost in his hair and the next tugging at his shirt, nails always finding ways to clip to his skin in ways that only sensitized him to her further. Her lips pressed against his, tongue manoeuvring to gain ground.

Thor grinned eagerly against her mouth as the rest of the world melted away from them, lost in each other's embrace: so _not her first kiss!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jane could feel her hair was a tangled mess before she'd even lifted her head. It felt too dull and heavy to lift anyway.

The night before echoed in her mind in one long hazy blur, as if it were something from a dream: the music, the drink, the way if felt _so good_ kissing Tho-

Jane shot upright in the bed, ignoring her pounding skull. Her eyes were wide as she remembered. She remembered all too clearly. The hand holding. The kissing. The pressing herself against him while his hand played with the hem of her shirt…

Oh God.

Her throat ran dry as she became aware of another figure on the bed beside her. Her heart sank with dread. _Please no_, she begged in her head, _please say it's not him, that I didn't…._Jane turned with fear written on her face, glancing over her shoulder at the sleeping figure, already stirring from her abrupt awakening.

Relief flooded through her when she saw the dark locks and glaring eyes of Darcy. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Jane's hands flew to her face, covering her eyes. "Oh, thank God." She breathed, letting the tension flow from her.

"No, thank me." Darcy amended irritably, shifting herself up in the bed, pulling the covers with her. Jane was glad to see the same leggings and shirt she'd worn last night still adorning her person. "I never thought I'd have to _literally _pull you away from a guy. You're even worse than me."

Jane's eyes shot to Darcy, digesting what she'd just said. Worse than Darcy – never! Mind you… Jane didn't exactly have a very clear recollection of last night to prove her friend wrong. The first bit of what Darcy said was just as startling as the second: Jane had been pulled away. _Pulled_ away. Had they really been that – hem – into each other right in the middle of the dance floor?

Her eyes roundened in wonder though as it solidified into fact. She… and Thor… "So it hadn't been a dream." She breathed aloud.

Was that good or bad?

Thor had kissed her. _Thor Odinson_ had kissed her! Jane's heart skipped a beat at the utter absurdity of it, but here she was with kiss swollen lips and a witness. There was no denying it, no matter how implausible it seemed. And he'd kissed her until they'd been wrenched apart…

Her heart didn't stop hammering in her chest even as she trudged numbly to her lecture, folders hugged in her arms. Her soul was humming with warm content.

But the _stares_. Every step she took drew a new pair of eyes upon her, as if they all knew – which they probably did. It did nothing to make Jane feel better though. She half wished last night had remained a forgotten drunken haze, something she'd enjoyed for the moment and the moment alone.

She sat down in an isolated seat in the lecture hall, as desolate as it usually was. For as vast as the theatre was, when it came to astrophysics lectures they were lucky if the place gathered fifty attendees, all spread broadly across the seating. Jane chose herself a nice secluded corner at the back where even the stares couldn't find her.

Her head pulsed painfully. _Lethal…_ the word hung in her mind, but she couldn't explain why; all she was aware of was the aching headache and delicate feeling stomach she nursed.

She broke out her note pad and pen and tried to get the teacher on the stage to stop swaying.

"I believe this is yours."

Jane's eyes blinked to the side instinctively, knowing there was no one else but her for the voice to be talking to.

She didn't notice the British-ness to it until she was staring up into the crystal blue eyes of the owner, her gaze widening like a deer in the headlights. Her jaw dropped. The binder held out to her went unnoticed as she stared past it, into the gloriously handsome face of Thor Odinson.

She swore in her head.

"You…" escaped her numb lips, and she snapped her jaw shut as soon as it did, averting her eyes with a crimson streak to her complexion. She glanced at the professor on the stage, as he took his place, starting to speak. Jane didn't hear him.

Her heart hammered against her ribcage. Oh God, he was here. She felt her seat shift slightly as he slumped down heavily in the one beside her, feeling his eyes watch her avidly. He could see every panic in her eyes, every horrified paling of her skin quickly replaced with an embarrassed flush.

The binder he held hovered in the corner of her vision and Jane snatched it from him to get it out of the way. "What are you doing here?!" she hissed through gritted teeth, looking at him at last.

His amused grin met her.

"One of two things." He smiled, eyes shining softly.

All things aside, Jane couldn't help feel just a bit envious: he looked so refreshed and alert while she just felt…_ eugh_.

"One: to return the work you left behind in the cafeteria yesterday." His hand, still hovering in the air from where he'd held the binder in question now bobbed in indication at the massive folder Jane had shoved down over her note pad.

Her eyes dropped to it, disbelief taking over. Flipping the cover open, she realised he hadn't lied – it _was_ her folder. All the data she feared she'd lost was right here, recovered and returned to her. A tidal wave of relief crashed over her so much so that she smiled as her eyes grazed over the numbers she'd never been more grateful to see. _Oh, thank God_, she thought in absolute joy. _Thank God, thank God, thank God!_

_No, _a voice in her head corrected her. _Thank _Thor_._ Jane's eyes lifted to the guy in question as she realised that the voice was right, lips parted in...shock? Was that the right word? No, astonishment might be better, but even that didn't feel entirely satisfying.

Thor Odinson had taken the time to give her this back. His own time, of his own free will – God only knew the science department was something he rarely ventured into!

Yet he was here, smiling for his trouble.

His hand went to the strap slung across his broad chest and slung the bag up onto his lap. "Second," his eyes lowered to what he was doing as he ripped the zip firmly open and dug for what he was searching for. His hand found it and dragged it out, plonking it down on the little space that was left from the binder on the desk surface Jane had in front of her.

Jane frowned at the little carton of orange juice he'd put down. A small box joined it. Then a bottle of water. Then a small box of crackers. Jane just stared at the bizarre collection.

When her eyes lifted to the one who'd given it to her, he was smiling, reading the confusion in her gaze.

"For the hangover." He explained simply, starting to point off to each item in turn. "You're hung-over because you're dehydrated, so you need to drink lots of water _at least_ every hour. Painkillers will take care of your headache, but don't overdo it or you'll just feel worse. Vitamin C will boost your metabolism and get you back to normal faster, and would I be wrong in guessing you skipped breakfast this morning?"

Jane tried to ignore the heat in her cheeks as she bowed her head in shamed confirmation. Her stomach hadn't felt up to it.

Thor just smiled and picked up the crackers, tossing them to her so Jane's hands shot to catch them on reflex. "I thought not." He grinned. "Bread or crackers work best. Something solid to settle your stomach."

Jane's cheeks felt on fire as she clutched the crackers shyly. Her fingers plucked the packet open slowly, still digesting what he'd said through her half-working brain. "How do you know all this?" Her eyes watched him warily, but it didn't stop her taking a small bite of one of the crackers. It felt dull and heavy in her mouth. Forcing it down her throat, she was soon reaching for the water.

The towering guy laughed, drawing irritated glares to the back of the lecture theatre. "Experience." He answered with a casual light in his eyes. "And my course involves Physical Health. It's my job to know how the human body works."

Jane's pride felt shredded as she punched the straw through the top of the juice carton, taking a tentative sip. As soon as the sugar touched her tongue though, she was lapping the rest of it down. When had orange juice tasted so _good_? Thor just watched her patiently as she drank and ate, tucking the tablets in her pocket for later use. She was already feeling better.

The lecture was dead, Jane decided. She was not listening, not taking notes… and she didn't care, frankly. Who could when they had someone like Thor personally seeing to her post-party condition as if it was his problem?! They weren't even _friends_, for God's sake!

It spilled from her mouth before she could help it: "Why?" Her eyes never left his face, curious. She still didn't understand him, this kindness… "Why are you here?"

Thor's mouth opened, but he paused before he let the words answer her, choosing them carefully. "To help." He finally settled on, thinking of the bounty he'd just given her. But why lie to himself? - he knew it was more than that. "To talk."

His eyes linked with hers to see her reaction, watching the surprise bathe over her face. It made him smile all over again, in spite of himself.

"To…" Jane struggled to get her head around it, hangover or otherwise. "Talk?"

He nodded. "About last night."

Jane gulped. Last night…her heart sank all over again as she thought about last night. She and Thor had not only kissed but had kissed fervently, the most passionate, ardent kiss Jane had ever experienced. Of course, that had everything to with the fact that the guy had been Thor freakin' Odinson! How the hell hadn't she ended up in bed with him? She half hated Darcy for that.

She should have known last night would chase her down eventually, but even she had to confess she hadn't bargained on it being so soon.

For all the panicking emotions Jane felt inside, Thor looked calm, that honest brightness of his eyes never once faltering, his surprisingly soft, kind smile never leaving his lips. His lips… the lips Jane had kissed.

She wanted to bury her head in her hands and just _die_.

She was sure the horror must have shown somewhat on her paling face, but Thor made no mention of it. Jane wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse.

What was this? Some kind of peace offering before he crushed her to the ground? Not that she was captivated or anything, but come on – he was Thor. Perhaps that was it. No doubt he had plenty of experience letting girls down after a night with him. Now maybe it was her turn.

Jane held her breath in waiting. Just waiting. Waiting for him to crush her down so she would want to overdose on those pain killers he'd given her.

Thor's eyes sparkled on, not betraying anything. His lips parted and Jane felt her heart clench in apprehension.

"Do we have to do this here?" she cut in before he could say anything, the question squeaking from her lips. It was desperate, she knew. A desperate attempt to delay the inevitable.

To her upmost relief, Thor just nodded in calm agreement and rose from his seat. Jane rushed to gather her things together. She scooped the rubbish and her notes in her bag, feeling the weight of it sag as the water bottle lugged it down. Her hand reached for the binder left on the desk, but her fingers bumped with Thor's as he took it for her. He shot her a warm smile, crossed with a casual apology and something else, so soft and kind, that Jane couldn't aptly name.

Her cheeks flaming as she followed him out. Now the bastard was even carrying her stuff for her. She was not looking forward to this rejection.

She followed him wordlessly, the pair of them slipping from the lecture hall with unnoticed ease. Jane kept her eyes low, avoiding to look at Thor until she absolutely had to. That time unexpectedly came when Jane got to the door, her hand reaching out to catch it before it slammed in her face. It never came, and her eyes flickered up instinctively.

Thor held it open for her with his large hand, smiling – did he ever lose that gorgeous smile?! Jane shuffled though, blushing so hard she could hear the blood pounding in her ears.

Her heart raced in her chest as she settled in the deserted corridor, and Thor let the door swing shut behind them.

The moment of truth, she thought, hugging her arms around her middle and looking at the floor.

"Jane."

She looked up. She couldn't help it.

She was dimly aware it was the first time Thor had used her name and she had to say it sounded _pretty damned awesome!_ But the moment her anxious brown eyes snapped with his calm blue ones, the wonder was drowned out with cold, drenching dread.

Thor's smile solidified when she looked at him and stayed there, glazing over her expression. Uncalled for, he thought, but adorable. That he couldn't deny.

He cleared his throat. "I…"

Why was it now of all times that words failed him? The things he'd wanted to say, that he'd sought her out to say… and poof! it was gone. He felt like an idiot, dipping his head to shield his embarrassment. He grin only spread though, chuckling at himself. _Unbelievable_, he thought.

Jane watched him struggle with the words, wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her before he could figure it out. How would he break it to her? They'd kissed for Hell's sake – something was coming. Would it be the 'we can be friends' line or a blunt 'stay away from me'? The light in his eyes said neither, too carefree for Jane not to notice it, considering what had to be coming.

_Unless it was all just a big joke to him_. Jane just died inside, wishing she'd never woken up this morning and that she'd never gone to the party the night before.

His mouth opened again and Jane's heart tensed. _Oh God,_ here it came-

"I like you."

_What?!_

Jane felt like her knees would give out with the shock of what had just left Thor's mouth, her jaw falling open numbly. Had he… had she heard that right? No, she determined. She must have misheard him. There was no way he'd said_… those words_.

Thor wore that brilliant smile, his easy gaze flickered to the side. Now Jane's eyes were playing tricks on her too – there was no way that that was_ shyness_ she saw in his expression. No way. He looked sweetly embarrassed as he shifted his eyes back to her, his smile so endearing it tugged Jane's heart back to life.

"What?" she squeaked, her voice peaking in her throat. She couldn't stop staring at him, couldn't stop the words she thought he'd said echoing in her head.

Thor's smile widened coolly, and he took a step forward.

Jane was vaguely aware that that one step could appear very intimidating in certain situations but right now, her heart wasn't racing out of fear. How on earth hadn't she had a heart attack by now? Her internal organs were practically beating themselves up for this guy; her heart pounding in anxiety and something else Jane didn't care to mention, and her liver battling the alcohol that had brought her to this situation in the first place.

The hand not holding her binder lifted and Jane couldn't take her eyes off it. The large palm rose closer to her face and Jane's fingers searched for the wall, half afraid she'd pass out, as Thor's hand moulded to her cheek.

"I like you." He repeated with another dazzling smile. His voice was soft and sincere, and Jane was struck by just how gentlemanly and courteous he was when he was his normal self.

This was so… sweet. Impossible, but sweet. Assuming for a second Jane wasn't hallucinating and all this was real, even in her imagination things wouldn't happen like this.

Not that she was complaining! But for a jock boy she'd expected… more self-assurance. Thor seemed almost shy when he'd first said it. And even now with his hand on her cheek and her near back up against the wall, perfectly poised to steal a kiss from her if he wanted to, his back stayed straight, his lips stayed merely smiling.

Of course, Jane didn't believe any of it for a second to even get that far. A short bark of laughter left her. "What?" Her head started to shake from side to side, but not enough to shrug off Thor's warm palm.

"Must I repeat myself a third time?" Thor's eyes sparkled. "I, Thor Odinson, like you, Jane Foster, and would like for us to get better acquainted." When Jane said nothing, frozen in shock, he went on. "I know what occurred between us last night was hardly orthodox but I would like to remedy that. Would you permit for us to become friends?"

Every inch of him gleamed with sincerity, right down to the gleaming in his orbs to the faint nervousness in his smile. Jane's heart clicked to reality with a hard thud, face paling. This… this was real, she realised. This was _really_ happening. Thor wasn't rejecting her – he wanted to see _more _of her! Her mouth fumbled for words, wanting to blurt yes but stammering with the one simple syllable.

A new one slipped in in its place: "Why?" it gasped from her lips, and Jane didn't have the will to retract it.

Thor grinned and chuckled. "You…" his eyes lifted to an imaginary corner – something her often did when he thought, Jane was starting to notice – as he searched for the right words. "You fascinate me." He finally settled on. "You're different."

Different was one word for it, Jane thought bluntly in her head. Geeky and _way out of his freakin' league _was another way of phrasing it too.

"A good different." Thor corrected quickly at the look on Jane's face. A sheepish expression crossed his own. "I half wish I hadn't kissed you, so at least we wouldn't have this shadow hanging over us. I _am_ sorry for that, by the way. It was out of line."

Jane didn't have the words to dismiss it. She wouldn't have him _apologise_. That was a night she'd treasure forever, no matter what else transpired between them in the future. Jane's mind was matted with emotion and headache, and she struggled to make sense of Thor's words. This was all just insane. "What _exactly _are you asking of me?" she asked slowly and clearly. "Just so we're clear."

Thor's smile stretched and he took a step back, letting his hand fall from her face. "I am not used to asking for a girls affections." He confessed with a bashful chuckle.

Jane's heart dropped to her stomach – but not in an altogether unpleasant way.

Bright blue, honest eyes found hers. "I want to spend more time with you in whatever way it presents itself. However, if I am truly honest," he drew in a deep, measured breath that had Jane leaning forward in anticipation. "I would like to date you, Jane Foster."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"D-date… me?" stammered from Jane's lips.

Thor never was one for patience. He lived by his impulses, letting his instinct and his gut carry him where it chose.

Last night it had chosen East Block.

This morning it had chosen the lecture hall.

And both of those were connected by the one person that stood before him, eyes blinking up at him so sweet and innocent like it made Thor near forget the very thoughts in his head! _What is it with this woman?_, he wondered.

The drink had worn off. Waking up in his apartment Thor had felt strangely alone, as if something was missing. True, it was probably the only party he'd ever retired from without an unnamed woman in his bed from the night before. Only this woman had a name and a face that Thor simply couldn't forget. Jane Foster. It even sounded beautiful.

Instinct didn't lie. There was something about Jane Foster that just plain did it for him. Smart into levels he couldn't hope to comprehend, beautiful in the most natural and honest way, and _nice_.

But then all that could flip as he'd seen last night, and she could become someone that drowned out the world around with her radiance.

"Yes." He nodded with more assurance than he felt. "That's what American's do, right?" he frowned uncertainly. "In England we know it as asking people out, but here..." A frustrated sigh finally left his lips and he ran a hand though his blond locks, brushing them from his eyes. They burned with earnest resolve as they fixed on her. "I am asking for you to be my girlfriend. I can think of no simpler way to put it."

Thor stared down at Jane as she drank in the product of his impulses. He hadn't thought this through. Well, no that was a lie – he hadn't thought it through _well_, would be better. He'd decided he wanted to try, braced for either outcome, and bam! he was stood there now executing his plan. Jane's eyes were round and adorable as he told her.

He dared think this might be the first time in his life he'd been the one asking rather than being asked. And with Jane it was a struggle to explain why. It wasn't just that she was pretty. It wasn't just that she was interesting. There was something more, something Thor couldn't put his finger on. His soul, usually restless and craving felt warm and happy when he was with her.

And this all came from one meeting.

The kiss had sealed it. Before it had been pure attraction but now … Thor had kissed her and he'd known – there was something about Jane Foster that was special.

His hand reached out to her, sensing that with Jane in such a stunned state, she needed some tempting back to reality. Thor let himself smile, despite the flutter of emotions that tingled his chest.

What if she refused him? The thought was terrifying and for all Thor's calm bravado, inside, he was bricking it. He looked down at her and knew that Jane could never have been a simple one night stand. He just wanted her. Her lips were pink and plump and so ready for him to kiss again, her hands the perfect size to cover the pectoral muscles of his chest.

But at the same time he didn't want it to be a tease. Already, he'd indulged himself once – kissing her at the party had been _bliss _– but look where it got him: longing. Normally, he would have dismissed it as weak and useless, but with Jane…

He_ longed_ for her. Not just to sleep with. When he'd been alone he'd wanted her there, just to be there. To look at, to talk to. Kissing her again was most definitely on his wish-list but Thor knew what he asked of her already was too much – what reason did she have to risk venturing into a relationship with a guy she'd kissed at a party the once?

Still, hope blossomed in his chest at her hesitation. Hesitation meant she was considering it. Or at least, that's what he told himself.

He'd hoped the binder-returning and food and replenishment could show her he wasn't just looking for any girl. That he was serious. That he was more than his preceding reputation would have her think.

It was still a lot to ask.

"You can trust me."

His eyes bore into hers and he knew he hadn't told her a lie. He didn't want to hurt Jane; he had only the purest of intentions. He wanted her company, and if that meant she would only permit him to see her as a friend, then so be it. It was better than nothing.

It wouldn't stop Thor trying for more though. "Please." It was a shy away from begging. Perhaps he should have just kissed her and bolted for it, a voice in his head cursed bitterly.

"You…" Jane struggled to get her head round his words, still just overwhelmed. "You want to date me? Seriously?"

"Yes." He was starting to lose his patience. The hand stayed out stretched.

Jane's eyes frowned with a wariness. "Why though?" she asked, bringing up the very question Thor had hoped he wouldn't have to answer aloud. Purely because he wasn't sure if he could. "Of all the people, why me?"

"Why not?" he blurted with a chuckle. He swore in his head instantly – what a great damned way to show he was serious!

Thor tossed his head back in a moment of exasperation before he snapped it back to her, forcing his eyes to stay gentle. "Don't you believe in fate?" he spewed. He would sound like an idiot but who cared. Next to Jane he was but a moron anyway. "Whatever happened at that party between us, I haven't been able to forget you since, and I can tell you – that has _never happened to me before_. Whatever it is, it's something deeper than I understand."

His eyes scoured Jane's face for a hint of hope – a spark of recognition, or a flicker of understanding. He was met with only squinting questioning. No doubt wondering about his sanity.

He let a heavy sigh leave his lips at her staring silence, and his hand fell back to his side. He felt defeated. "Perhaps you did not feel it."

That was it, he thought, a darkness crossing his usually light features. She didn't understand and so Thor's vague and frail 'faith' ploy had no hope of success. He'd played his last card.

He turned to stride down the corridor, already thinking of all the things he could beat up along the way.

"Wait!"

Jane's unmistakable little hand grabbed his bicep and Thor turned on instinct, meeting her frantic face instantly. His own stayed like gravel.

"I'm just…" Jane rambled pointlessly. She cleared her throat and started again, her hand staying on Thor's arm for fear of as soon as she let go, he'd be gone forever. "I'm not saying I don't want to, I'm just… a bit surprised, that's all." Her eyes lifted to his now stony orbs, and something inside the sports star cracked at their gleam. "I didn't see this coming."

"Nor did I." Thor grumbled from his chest.

An imploring look flashed in Jane's orb and Thor felt compelled to listen, without bitter close-mindedness. "I… can we back up a step? This is just …"

"Too fast?" Thor finished for her, tone lightening up at last. His eyes blinked away their harshness, letting his body turn back to Jane as she didn't technically reject him. "I'm sorry. I'm rather new to this."

To his utter relief, a forgiving, thankful smile flittered over Jane's lips and her tense shoulders dropped. The look in her eye stiffened him up again; it looked too much like sympathy. Weak pity. Thor's lip curled against it in his head.

"No, I'm sorry." Jane breathed, eyes gleaming. "I just… I'm struggling to actually believe you want to…" she seemed to struggle with the word for a moment. "_Date_ me."

"I do." He insisted in a heartbeat, his fingers closing over hers on his arm. "I really like you, Jane Foster. I know it is a lot to declare after one night, but… is there a way we could just try?" he finally settled on. He accepted that there had been zero chance of Jane declaring her undying love for him, but if she could give him a chance… "I promise you won't regret it."

A smile ghosted over Jane's lips, and Thor's heart clenched with anxiety. "I don't even know you!" she protested.

Thor noticed her hand hadn't even tried to pull away from underneath his. He took that as a good sign. His fingers squeezed hers firmly. "Your friend wanted us to meet." He said solidly. "Perhaps there was a reason for it."

"Yeah, her own sick enjoyment." Jane mumbled under her breath.

Thor smirked. "I was thinking more an act of fate."

Jane arched a sceptical eyebrow as her gaze lifted back to him, lips pressing together in a grin. "I'm a scientist, Thor. I don't exactly believe in fate."

The sports star tried to ignore the way his heart convulsed when she said his name. "But you believe in fact, yes?" he was determined to win this one out now. Jane nodded. "Then tell me this: did you like kissing me last night?"

Jane's cheeks burst with colour again at his abrupt question, but Thor brushed it aside. He was focused now, a man on a mission. He would convince Jane Foster he was trustworthy man if it killed him. Finally, her eyes cast to the side in embarrassment, a mumbled "Yes." left Jane's lips.

Thor fought the urge to smile. "Do you like me?"

Jane's blush darkened. "Yes."

"Do you think I would hurt you?"

Her eyes flickered to him at last, gracing over the muscles of his arms and torso. He could, physically… but Jane knew the moment she thought it that he never would. "No."

"Do you think I would do you wrong?"

Again, he could, but… "No."

Thor let a relieved sigh leave his lips. His heart thudded at being so close to his goal. "Then what more is there for you to trust me?"

Trust – that was all he was asking for. Not love. God knew he didn't _love_ Jane Foster. Not yet anyway. That was why he was here; to set the footstones for a future where this strange fascination, this caring would someday become something more. He hoped to think he would recognise the day it came, but, alas, he knew fate was not always that kind.

Jane's eyes were still hesitant.

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Jane." Thor spilled, nearly at wits end. "I'm only asking for you to date me. If it doesn't work out then I shall leave you alone and we can pretend like this never happened."

His hand squeezed hers over his bicep before he let it melt away, stepping back to give some meagre measure of distance between them. Now Jane had to choose. His hand reached back out to her offeringly, and he noted hopefully how Jane's eyes lingered on it, before they lifted to his gleaming orbs. "Deal?"

He could see her mind working furiously behind her eyes, weighing up the facts and the evidence before she made her final conclusion. He expected that of her, to be critical and analytical.

For those reasons alone, he knew they weren't a perfect match. For her carefulness, Thor was brash and impulsive. But differences didn't mean they were banned from caring for each other. He knew she liked him. She had to. Everyone liked him. And it would only be dating; if they turned out to be too different Thor could simply faze out of her life and no lasting damage would be done. Where was the fault?

He was a good man, he knew that. Despite all his flaws he would never cheat on Jane or raise his hand to her. He struggled to even imagine a time he might raise his _voice_ to her. But the uncertainty made it all questionable in Jane's mind. She didn't know him well. How did she know what he was capable of?

But what she knew she liked. She knew he'd brought her stuff to ease her hangover, for no other reason than it was a nice thing to do. She knew he'd brought her folder back to her. It was strange; for so long she'd thought of him objectively, like a variable in a science investigation… only now it was personal. Now she had to think of him as a living, breathing, _thinking_ being, and – scariest of it all – she had to consider her own feelings. She'd never had to do such a personal analysis before.

She cleared her throat and let her gaze focus back on the gorgeous man in front of her. His crystal blue orbs stared back anxiously.

Her fingers slowly reached up and slid into his open hand, the smile dancing beyond her lips, glittering in her eyes as she accepted him. "Deal."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_He was hot, he was sweet, he was hers. He was hot, he was sweet, he was hers…_ Jane repeated the words to herself in her head as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, just to remind herself that the last couple of days hadn't been a dream.

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror and wondered what on earth she'd done to deserve the man on his way to her apartment right now.

_Thor Odinson_. Wow…

"Jane?!" Darcy's hysteric voice screeched in her ear, her pacing form suddenly crossing the mirror behind Jane's body. "Are you insane?!"

Jane blinked herself back to her senses and glanced at her friend over her shoulder. Darcy's expression was impossible to miss; a keen combination of irritated and ... well, just plain, utter disbelief. Her manic pacing stopped and she just stood there, staring as if Jane had grown two heads or something.

Jane shrugged. "You pitched us together-"

"I didn't think you'd end up with him _after t_he party though!" she cut off, splaying her hands to the side for emphasis. "You don't even know the guy for God's sake."

Jane rolled her eyes, and pushed past Darcy to get to the door. "What's the big deal? He's not a bad guy."

She said it…but even as the words left her mouth her stomach fluttered – _what was the big deal? _The big deal was that she was Thor Odinson's _girlfriend! _And it wasn't a dream, it wasn't a hallucination. Thor had shown up outside her apartment door the next day just to prove it. Jane hugged her arms around her body, warmth wrapping snugly around her heart as she remembered the way he'd walked her to her lab, carrying her stuff for her like a proper gentleman.

She picked her way through her messed up apartment to her desk, gathering up the folders she'd need for the day's work. "He's really sweet." She maintained, careful not to still long enough for Darcy to catch her eye. "He's on his way here now, so you can see for yourself."

Darcy looked like she was choking on something: "What?" she forced out, her eyes wide. "He's coming _here_ and you didn't think to tell me?!"

Jane shrugged. "He comes here every day." A blush caught her cheeks, along with the shy little smile. "He walks me to class."

"Oh God…" Darcy slapped a palm to her forehead, folding her spare arm across her chest.

Jane was still wearing an idiotic smile on her face. She could understand Darcy's concern. She still woke up every day wondering what the hell had possessed her to agree to be someone's girlfriend, let alone when that someone was a guy she barely knew.

"You kissed the guy once." Darcy moaned. "And you were drunk. That's hardly good foundation for a relationship."

Oh yes, Jane knew it. The kiss lingered in her memory uncertainly, stinging fringes of doubt in her soul. But then the fact that that was all she had to work on calmed her a bit: Thor hadn't kissed her since. He hadn't pushed anything, the most he'd do being holding her hand as they walked down the corridors. Jane had to admit she was quite impressed. She thought he'd be demanding, maybe having withdrawal symptoms from not getting laid in so long!

He was being adorably sweet about it, letting them take things slow until Jane's heart settled. Just seeing his light hearted smile, Jane knew he didn't regret it, that it wasn't tearing him apart inside. He was happy.

_How?,_ a voice in Jane's head wanted to scream. How was it possible? When he'd told her he wanted her company, Jane was sure he was messing with her head somehow, but here he was, with nothing but her company, seeming to be having the time of his life. Jane hadn't thought such innocent satisfaction was possible – especially someone life Thor, who just reeked of manly testosterone.

Darcy's hand crept down from over her eyes, revealing her curious orbs. "So…" she started slowly, folding the other arm over her bosom too. "Have you banged him yet?"

The folders hit the floor with a bang.

Jane's face was crimson as she bent to pick them up. "Darcy," she hissed with blazing eyes. "What the hell-"

Darcy's orbs looked shamelessly focused as she shrugged, shifting her weigh from one leg to the other as casually as if she'd just asked what she'd had for breakfast. "I want to know what sort of equipment a guy like Thor's packing." She shrugged. "I'm assuming you slept with him. It's the only reason I can imagine why you would so something like this." Then her eyes suddenly widened, as a new idea struck her: "Oh my God, he hasn't knocked you up-"

Jane threw a handful of pens from the top of her desk at Darcy, silencing her. "For the love of_ God_, Darcy," Jane said through gritted teeth. "We haven't, and I'm not-"

A firm knock on the door cut her off and both women froze, faces draining of colour simultaneously. The breath hung in their lungs.

"Jane?" the unmistakable deep voice of Thor Odinson rumbled gently through the door, accompanied with another prime rap on the door. Jane felt her limbs go to jelly. Bit by bit, Jane and Darcy both turned their heads to stare at one another, their gazes linking in a heartbeat.

Jane's widened as they read her friends: "No!"

Jane lunged forward for Darcy's ankles but she leapt back, avoiding Jane's reaching fingers by millimetres. Those millimetres granted her the vital seconds she needed to race for the door. Darcy crashed into the wall beside the door as her hands grasped for the door handle, wrenching it open eagerly as her shoulder hit the wall with a thud. She tugged herself back and swung the door open just as Jane scrambled to her feet.

Thor's bright eyes frowned into the apartment, first at Darcy, then past her to Jane. Jane's heart stilled in her chest; with messed up hair, flushed cheeks and rumpled clothes from the scrabble – she must look a state!

"Thor." Darcy smiled breathlessly. For as much as she ratted at Jane for this dating business, it wouldn't stop her smiling at a guy as cute as Thor when she could.

The sports star still looked a little puzzled as Darcy stood in the doorway and not Jane. "Hello Darcy." He nodded politely, his voice a tad wary. Jane didn't blame him, she thought as she bent down to pick up her fallen folders and scattered pens. "Will you be accompanying us to the science block today?"

Darcy shifted to lean her shoulder in the doorway, trying to steer his attention back to her. "No, she's all yours." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "I'm just making a pit-stop."

Jane's eyes glared at her friends back as she sat up from her work, staggering slightly as she tried to balance the folders in her arms. Darcy found herself gently eased aside as Thor squeezed through the doorway to help her, hand effortlessly catching a folder as it slipped over the wall of Jane's forearm. He smiled as he tucked it under his arm.

The smile was echoed on Jane's lips. "Hi." was all she could think of to say.

Thor's grin widened as he relieved her of the rest of the files, piling them up in his arms as if they were made of bubble wrap than heavy cardboard and paper.

"You should be more careful." mumbled softly from his lips, a light sparkle in his eyes. "You won't do the scientific community any favours by injuring yourself. Let me take care of it."

Jane's soul felt like it would burst, the grin spreading shamelessly on her face along with the sweet touch of pink. The jaw-dropped Darcy in the doorway was priceless. _Yeah_, she agreed in her head. _Hard to believe someone can really be so sweet until you see it for yourself._

He straightened up and shifted the binders to balance in one arm, not even a glimpse in his face betraying any unease he might have felt. To him, those things were nothing.

"Thor?"

A second figure swung round the doorframe and Jane recognised the dark haired, emerald eyed form of Loki, Thor's brother. The same smile that Thor often wore graced his features; that addictive mix of arrogance and puppy-dog innocence, though Loki's was sharper, as if he were holding a secret.

_So this is the History student_, Jane thought as he saddled into the doorway, revealing the smarter trousers and shirt he wore than Thor's casual jeans and band shirt.

She didn't miss the way Darcy backed into the wall with a thud, eyes widened behind Loki's back with a more than obvious '_Holy Mother – it's him!_' written in her orbs. It wasn't scared, just… disbelieving as hell! He shot her a nodding grin over his shoulder in acknowledgement.

Thor's hand found Jane's back as Loki strode forward, and Jane couldn't help but feel like Thor was trying to show her off a bit. Did sibling rivalry extend that far? Anyhow, Jane could feel there was nothing serious in it, Thor's palm light and gentle against her spine as Loki approached.

"So you are the famous Jane Foster?" Loki grinned, extending a hand to Jane. She took it, a bemused smirk on her face. Who shook hands? Was it an English thing? "Thor has told me a great many things about you."

Jane didn't miss the dark, narrowing-eyed look that flashed over Darcy's face behind Loki, her arms folding over her chest stiffly. So she could fancy his brother, but Thor was still on her bad list? – Jane didn't think that was fair.

Her friend wasn't one to stay silent and Jane caught the quiet but still distinct sassy _mm-hm_ that hummed from Darcy's lips.

Loki caught it too.

Darcy's back straightened and her eyes popped out of their feisty expression as Loki turned to her, mischievous smirk on his face. His emerald green eyes locked on her, and Jane swore she saw Darcy's expression pale a touch. "You don't approve, Darcy?" His eyes flickered to Thor and Jane in indication.

Grins were plastered on the couples faces as they watched with amusement, Thor's hand on her back slowly winding up to her shoulder. Jane cheeks coloured, but her soul sung in content as Thor's arms wrapped warmly around her, holding her body back against his. He'd never held her like this in the week they'd been dating. Jane had to say, her hands finding his thick, muscular forearms over her torso, she liked it a lot.

She turned her attention back to Darcy and her dream-guy, sinking willing into Thor's embrace. "I have to confess," Loki went on. "I was a bit hesitant at first, but I can give you my word Darcy Lewis, that Thor is a good man. Your friend is in safe hands."

_Most definitely_, Jane thought with eager agreement as Thor's arms squeezed fondly around her. She giggled. Giggled. How shameful.

Jane watched as Loki's hand reached into the back pocket of his smart, dark jeans and pulled out two narrow strips of holographic card, the dusk-y colours shimmering in the light. She watched them curiously, excitement knotting her stomach. Loki's eyes rolled back to Thor and Jane, holding out the tickets though his body stayed mostly turned to Darcy. "Tickets for this Saturdays festival." He offered in way of simple explanation, Thor reaching out and taking the tickets with a knowing smile.

Jane frowned up at him, craning her neck to the side from the awkward angle they held each other. "What's going on?"

There was no way she could miss Thor's dazzling flash of teeth, even as he hugged her back to him firmly. Jane squirmed in his arms, until she was facing him; nothing for him to hide now, she thought.

His grin stayed relentless. "This Saturday there is a music festival in Valentine's Meadow." He said, eyes dancing with light. "And I just happen to find myself with a spare ticket."

The smirk teased at Jane's lips, letting her own curious expression sink into one as mischievous and playful as Thor's. "Oh yes?" her eyebrows lifted. She was vaguely reminded of the night they met, by the way they teased each other so knowingly. Right down to the hold, she realised, Thor's arms still firmly around her body.

No kiss though, she told herself firmly.

"And I also find myself with a ticket to spare." Loki's voice said behind her, but neither Jane nor Thor looked up to see him say it. The next words built the image for them in their heads: "Darcy? Would you like to come?"

Stuttering was his response, and Thor couldn't help but chuckle, the sound reverberating through Jane's body as his chest rumbled with it. She was glad Thor wasn't afraid of Darcy. It was probably the only thing that kept Darcy from shouting him out of Jane's life already! Still, even _she_ could feel the glaring eyes her friend aimed at Thor's head, let alone Thor himself.

"Bring it." Darcy forced in a voice that _had_ to be through gritted teeth with that sort of edge to it. "Have to make sure everything stays PG appropriate."

Jane's eyes rolled out of instinct.

"I told you." She shot back, finally tearing her eyes away from Thor to glance at her friend over her shoulder. Darcy had her arms folded again, ticket snatched in hand, her steely expression neatly aimed at the couple. Jane didn't dare say aloud _exactly _what she had told Darcy. "It's not like that."

Another laugh rolled loosely from Thor's chest, and it drew Jane's attention back to the glorious man. His eyes were sparkling as they looked to Darcy. "You think I have been taking advantage of her?"

Darcy answered it with a patronising lift of her eyebrows.

Jane's forehead thudded into Thor's chest in embarrassment. She was suddenly – happily – aware of the wall of muscle held against her. _Yum_, something inside her couldn't help but think.

"Then you are mistaken." Thor corrected Darcy in a voice that could melt butter with its sincerity. "And as far as the festival goes I have not even asked Jane to go with me yet."

Heat flooded Jane's cheeks, but the hard muscle of Thor's pecs wouldn't let her sink away any further. She groaned.

A warm, unmistakably large hand pressed against her cheek and Jane blinked her eyes open as Thor angled her face up to his. His soft, molten crystal orbs were simply mesmerising. The smile was forming on her lips before she'd realised, but didn't quash it for the life of her, letting the shame and embarrassment sink from her. She suddenly didn't care that Darcy and Loki were seeing this, something that felt so intimate it made her stomach flutter. How could just looking into his eyes be so spell-binding? Maybe if Darcy saw this it would swing her on the Thor band-waggon too.

The breath left her lips in a shudder and Thor smiled warmly as it washed over his mouth. "Would you," he started, his one remaining hand relinquishing its place on her back to hold up the tickets. "Jane Foster, come to the music festival with me this Saturday?"

How could he make it sound so… important? That earnest tone to his voice made it seem like her answer really was crucial for him, like it meant so much. Jane was still struggling to come to terms with this innocent fondness which he seemed to hold her in, but surely he couldn't be that worried about a _festival_?

Perhaps he read the doubts in her captivated orbs: "It could be our first date." He offered, as if he actually needed to convince her to accompany him.

Jane's smile widened as she realised he was right. A drunken kiss at a party didn't really count as a date, did it? No, she decided firmly, her arms winding around Thor's waist. It most definitely didn't. The festival… it was sounding like a better idea by the minute!

"I like the sound of that." She mused softly, smiling up at Thor.

Loki's hands clapped together behind her. "Well, that sounds like a yes to me." He said with finality. "Darcy? Shall we be off to class?"

Jane wasn't sure if she was smiling at the stammered response from her friend or was still happy about the festival-thing. She didn't care she decided, as Thor's lips curved in a grin that made her heart pound furiously.

And this was the guy she'd know for just a week. How could he make her feel so safe like that? It should be impossible…

Thor's lips darted forward and pecked on Jane's softly, cutting off the doubting thoughts in her head. Her eyes shot wide – although not in altogether unhappy way. The kiss was fleeting, so fleeting Jane would have missed it had she so much as blinked, but the fact remained: it was still the first time Thor had kissed her since the party.

Something in her soul was just melting, her knees turning to mush as the feel of his lips on her lingered intoxicatingly.

"Good." Thor grinned, stepping back and letting his arms fall from around Jane. He picked up her folders in one hand, and was striding to the door before Jane could even register he was gone.

Her eyes swerved madly when she did, finding him by the door as he held it out for her. She snapped herself back to focus, trying to remind herself that Professor Selvig wouldn't accept 'love-struck' as an acceptable excuse for being late. She trotted to the doorway, smiling as Thor loped his arm around her shoulders and swept them from the apartment.

Perhaps there was something in this after all, she couldn't help but think.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_The risk was definitely paying off_, Jane thought, smiling as she and Thor trekked hand in hand up Valentine's Meadow.

The light had fallen from the sky, casting a gorgeous dusky glow over the field. The stage was at the head, but speakers dotted around to make the sound accessible to everyone, fires scattered where various groups had made their campsites.

Darcy and Loki's was pitched not far from the outskirts of the campers, and Thor and Jane made a line for it, carving their way towards the couple. Jane was grinning at the pair, looking cosy as they sat close – yet not a single bottle of booze in sight. A part of her felt a bit damped; so Darcy could snuggle to her dream-man sober, but Jane had to get plastered to so much as talk to hers!

She could hardly complain with the result though as she and Thor sat with the couple, the fire warming her more than her shirt did in the chilly evening.

"Evening all." Darcy said with a grinning mimicry of Loki's pristine English accent.

He nudged her fondly in the ribs as he leaned forward and handed a box around the flames to Thor. "Marshmallows." He explained with a twinkling eye. "It should be illegal to have a campfire without marshmallows."

"I second that." Thor murmured, setting the box in his lap, and prising it open.

Jane leaned her head against his shoulder, smiling happily as her _boyfriend_ skewered pink and white marshmallows for her and handed her the stick.

She still hadn't got used to using that word: _boyfriend_. It sounded too solid, too intimate for two people that had gotten together on a whim, following a drunken kiss at a party. But Jane held his hand, didn't she? That had been Thor that had kissed her on the lips when she'd said yes, hadn't it? Yes, and yes, and now they were on a date. The word still felt wrong though.

Her eyes watched Thor in the low light, his eyes light but intent on his task as he fixed himself some marshmallows of his own. He was perfect; really. There wasn't a fault to be found in him – especially not in that physique hidden beneath that blue shirt and dark jacket! But Jane liked to think she like him more for than just his body. He'd called her different, hadn't he? And Jane was different. She remembered the way he'd cared for her after her hangover and she couldn't deny the way her heart tugged at the sweet gesture, the way it always did when he even so much as held a door open for her.

But they hadn't even kissed properly since the party and Jane was starting to get worried. Was Thor not attracted to her? Was he having second thoughts? Jane was a little concerned, but at the same time, what could she do? She didn't know how to handle this sort of thing…

"Whoa!" Thor's hand closed over hers and wrenched it back from the fire as the marshmallows she'd been 'toasting' erupted in a miniature fireball, spitting under the too intense heat. Her fingers dropped in on instinct and watched it flame for a second, then die on the grass beside her.

Her heart was in her mouth from the shock of Thor's rescue, her eyes still wide. Her hand was warm from how narrowly avoiding getting burned.

Thor was grinning as she lifted her blushing face to his, feeling an idiot. "Are you alright?" he chuckled, thumb stroking over Jane's hand tenderly, though his gaze held her startled one with ease. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Her fingers tingled as Thor eased his own skewer into her hand. "Here." He smiled that godly flash of teeth of his. "Take mine."

Jane could do little but obey, letting her ifnegrs grip the stick and closing her idiotically open mouth with another flush of colour on her cheeks.

Thor paid it no heed, already setting up a new skewer. "Perhaps we should leave the fire to me." He grinned, his eyes light.

Jane cursed herself inside. God only knew she wasn't worthy of such a guy as Thor – the least she could do was to act like a sane human being for him! She wanted to slap her palm to her forehead, but knew that wouldn't win her any normality awards now.

Her teeth dug into the soft marshmallows angrily, biting her irritation through the gooey centred cushions. Oh God, they tasted good! Jane felt her eyes flutter closed and her heart melt along with the sweetness in her mouth. She'd forgotten how nice this was – the last time she'd had roasted marshmallows was in high school, the simple minded students they were toasting over the flame of the Bunsen burners.

Her shoulder relaxed into Thor's of its own accord and she offered no resistance as he looped an arm around her shoulders.

She _really_ had no objections, she realised, as she appreciated just how_ warm_ Thor was. She hummed happily as her cheek settled against the radiator that was his chest, basking in the body heat leaking through his shirt. Oh, he was incredible.

Her mind drifted in bliss and she let the beat of the music wash over her, listening at last. The light hearted racing tune of the banjo strummed her heart along too and she found her foot tapping along to the song:

"_But it was not your fault but mine,_

_And it was your heart on the line._

_I really fucked it up this time,_

_Didn't I, my dear?_

_Didn't I, my dear…"_

Jane found herself clapping along with the rest of the field as the Mumford and Sons song ended and the tribute band drank in the applause, her mouth full of chewy marshmallows. She loved that song…

"We're going up the front to get a better view." Loki said, cutting through her thoughts, already rising with Darcy's hand in his. "Want to come?"

Jane and Thor flickered their gazes to meet simultaneously. Jane's orbs were gleaming in the dim evening light, her tongue swirling to clear her mouth of the marshmallow. A smile stretched on Thor's face at the sight – but a thoughtful second later, his brow dipped in a light frown.

"You go ahead." he said, eyes lingering on Jane as she gulped down the last of the food. A new song was strumming up through the speakers already. "Perhaps we'll join you later."

His gaze rolled round to his brother as he said the last part, letting his arm fall casually from around Jane. Her heart skipped a beat at the sudden loss of contact. Loki merely shrugged, Darcy already tugging at his arm towards the stage, and Jane watched with light envy as they turned and trotted towards the front of the field.

She started to feel anxious. Thor had dropped his arm, he'd kept them there – _alone_. Jane wasn't idiot enough to think that was a coincidence!

Her head stayed turned front ways, not brave enough to look at Thor full on, fearful of what she might find. Her eyes pricked to him out of her side-on vision, waiting for him to speak. Ice gripped her heart as she anticipated what it might be.

He wanted to talk, that much had to be certain. But talk about what? Had he come to his senses at last? Had he realised just how out of his league Jane was? Maybe her time had come at last. She'd tasted paradise, but hadn't grasped the opportunity that had been presented to her, and now maybe Thor was braking up with her. Maybe it was because she hadn't kissed him since the party. Maybe it was because she hadn't put out for him.

Her heart thudded in her chest and she was starkly reminded of that time outside the lecture theatre when she was sure Thor had been about to reject her then. Her panic blinded her to the softness in the sport star's orbs.

"I know you're still anxious about us." Thor said softly, eyes watching Darcy and Loki as they disappeared towards the stage.

Jane couldn't bring herself to say anything. Anxious… yes. How did he know? She let the gentle tone of his voice ease over her, trying to work out the tension that gripped her heart. Thoughts of him rejecting her though, despite his backing off earlier, were pushed out with the second stick of warm marshmallows he gave to her. She risked a glance to Thor's face, and the soft flicker in the corner of his lips, though his orbs stayed otherwise occupied, reassured her for definite.

Her shoulder's slumped with relief as the band started to sing, letting a smile of her own play out on her face as she bit into the marshmallow:

"_And I came home  
Like a stone,  
And I fell heavy into your arms…"_

"I know it's a lot I've been asking of you." Thor went on in that gentle voice of his that made Jane want to just bury her face in his chest and let him hold her. "But I'm very grateful you've been willing to try."

"_These days of darkness,  
Which we've known,  
Will blow away with this new sun…"_

"I don't know what you're other relationships have been like, but I wanted to take us slow. I don't want you to think that I'm not serious."

Jane brushed aside the scoffing in her head. Other relationships – what other relationships?! Any boy-relations she'd had were nothing short of disasters, the lengthy periods of battling out the bad not even holding a candle to this sweet week of tenderness. Thor had bested them all, made the greatest relationship Jane had ever had – any may ever have! – and he didn't even know it!

His fingers closed around hers on the grass and squeezed and Jane felt all rational thought leave her as Thor's orbs finally linked with hers, his molten diamond orbs… oh, Jane wanted to cry at their gleaming sincerity!

"_And I will wait, I will wait for you  
And I will wait, I will wait for you."_

Jane felt her heart race in time with the banjo tune and shivered, a combination of the truly chilly air and the honest in Thor's orbs that carved grooves into her soul. It was incredible; Jane was sure she must be dreaming…

The pressure of Thor's fingers was missed for barely a second as Thor shucked off his jacket, tugging his muscular, short sleeved arms free. His hands cupped her shoulders as he draped it over her shivering body, Jane's hands rising to close the front around her. Her lips smiled appreciatively, glad when Thor's arm draped over her far shoulder, letting her ease into his body.

The jacket was thick and warm over her limbs, and combined with Thor's body heat that just seemed to radiate from him endlessly, Jane was snug in seconds. She basked in the feeling.

"I don't know…" she breathed, letting her eyes drift dreamily shut. "I still don't really know what to make of this whole dating thing. I don't think I'll ever understand you."

Jane's body bobbed as Thor's chest rumbled with his chuckle. His finger gently hooked under her chin and guided her face up from leaning against the broad canvas of his chest, her eyes blinking open immediately to find his. His crystal blue orbs filled her vision instantly, and she felt her heart drop the way it always did at their majesty.

"Is it really too much to believe that I simply like you, Jane Foster?" his lips smiled, but Jane was much too preoccupied with his eyes to notice.

A smirk flittered over her own face at the utter absurdity of what he'd just said.

"_So break my step,  
And relent.  
You forgave and I won't forget…"_

"Yes!" she finally gasped. "Are you kidding me? You're Thor Odinson, for God's sake, and I'm just…" she struggled to find apt words to compare how small and insignificant she was compared to him.

"Just the most wonderful astrophysicist I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." Thor finished with a charming grin.

Jane's head tipped to the side. "I'm the only astrophysicist you've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

Thor's wonderfully broad shoulders shrugged, and Jane placed a steadying hand on Thor's chest as the movement disrupted her balanced position against him. He didn't seem to mind. Jane certainly didn't, lapping up the body heat that seeped through his shirt and into her palm.

"True." He conceded, his eyes sparkling. "But it doesn't mean I care about you any less."

"_But I will wait, I will wait for you.  
And I will wait, I will wait for you…."_

The smile blossomed; Jane couldn't help it. The way this guy could make her feel like the only girl in the world that mattered to him… oh, it just_ destroyed _her. How could he do that?, she wondered, giggling as Thor's chuckles became infectious.

Thor's arms tightened around her, and Jane's heart quickened at his palms on her back. Surely they could feel the way her heart was racing? They must, she decided, the strong organ in her chest working so hard it hurt as Thor had a scarily accurate impact on her senses. Blood was pushed to her flushed cheeks, warm with the jacket and strong arms encasing her body, holding her firmly to her boyfriend's chest.

"So I'll be bold  
As well as strong  
And use my head alongside my heart…"

"I meant it, you know." Thor said, his voice light but thick with earnest. Jane let her eyes fall from his face, basking in the wonderful sound of his deep voice. "The more time I spend with you, the more sure I am that I did the right thing."

"The right thing?"

A crooked, lopsided grin curves Thor's lips. "Building up the courage to ask you out as I did." He smirked. "It was the most terrifying thing I've ever done."

"_But I'll kneel down,  
Wait for now…"_

"A week ago I thought it was impossible to fall for someone so easily." He breathed, his fingers rising to comb through her hair. Jane surrendered to the tender gesture, letting him brush the dark strands from her face, illuminated by the firelight. Her eye blinked open though as she felt the tightness in his chest beneath her, like he was holding his breath. They locked with his glorious crystal gaze instantly, his lips twitched in an almost disbelieving smile. "Then you came along."

"_Raise my hands,  
Paint my spirit gold…"_

Jane's heart sung, her chest crushing with… _wow,_ had he really just said that? That he was…no, he couldn't have. Could he? Falling for her… it was unthinkable.

An incredulous smile of her own flittered over her face, her hands unconsciously gripping at his shirt. "I thought you didn't like me." She spilled. What the hell, she thought. "I thought because you hadn't kissed me, you didn't…"

Thor's charming grin killed the words in her throat.

"And bow my head,  
Keep my heart slow…"

His hand stilled in her hair, at a prime position at the back of her head. "I've been waiting for you." He breathed, the hot air washing over Jane's mouth tantalizingly. She could taste the sweetness of the marshmallows. "I knew the way to win your heart was not to act like a reckless brute." Jane could so clearly feel his thumb stroking her back, even though his touch was soft over the thick jacket. "I didn't want to mess this up. I…" he drew in a deep, but solid breath before he spilled the last of his heart to her. "I've never felt this way before."

Jane's heart had dropped into her stomach long ago. _Never felt this way_… he sounded so serious. So wonderfully serious.

Her blood pulsed instinctively in her chest with the beat of the music, letting it carry her to new heights of bliss. What more could she want? In Thor's arms, with him confessing the deepest trenches of his heart to her…

His eyes flashed with a light that made Jane's breath catch in her throat. "But if it is a kiss that you want…"

"'_Cause I will wait, I will wait for you  
And I will wait, I will wait for you…"_

_Enough waiting,_ a voice in her head said; Jane pushed herself up and pressed her mouth to Thor's before he could finish the sentence. Her heart had given out. If she listened to any more of his wonderful words, she was sure her heart would burst with how he made her feel. The light, racing music drove her on, with Thor's firming hands on her back, as she took what she'd been too afraid to even ask for until now.

If what he said was true, then why not? If Thor was falling for her... his mouth moved eagerly against hers as Jane tasted the sugar on his lips and tongue, reveling in the way his strong arms engulfed her.

Jane's palm stayed against Thor's chest, feeling his heartbeat throng through his muscles. How could his hands be so powerful and soft at the same time? To Jane it was a marvel.

"_And I will wait, I will wait for you…"_

Her lips brushed off Thor's.

Her soul was warm with content as she pulled away, her breathing steady, but her lips feeling strangely light at the absence of Thor's lips pressing on hers. Her mind swam with wonder.

That was… _wow_, she thought breathlessly. None of the recklessness of their first drunken kiss but soft and gentle and meaningful. Almost lulling with tenderness. Thor's lips hovered apart as Jane drew off him, her mind flittering at her unnatural forwardness. Was there no way she could kiss him normally, she half thought to herself, or did she always have to just throw herself at him?!

"_And I will wait, I will wait for_ you…"

Her head drew back, the truth of what she'd just done startlingly digging into her system. Thor straightened himself up and closed the gap between them again before she could escape – his mouth latched onto hers with a touch so feather-light it made Jane's heart melt in her chest.

His fingers stroked through her hair as he eased Jane onto his lap, his arms around her waist, lips moving so slow and caring against hers. She could feel his smile.

There was nothing rushed or sloppy about the embrace, nothing frantic or desperate. Jane let herself relax against Thor, entrusting herself to more than capable hands. His mouth massaged hers, tongue flicking tantalizingly against her lips but never once forcing entrance, enticing her forward to him of her own accord

Jane breathed in the air from his mouth, loving its heat and sweetness. Her hand rose and found the pulse on his neck, giving herself some leverage as she slipped her mouth from his again.

Her lips hovered over his by millimeters, just letting him overwhelm her. Her heart was pounding in her chest, his taste in her mouth, the scent of him on his jacket, his arms around her, his face and those godly eyes of his swimming in her mind behind her closed eyelids…

Thor was chuckling as his arms firmed around her, and Jane's heart skipped a beat as he rolled them over, Jane's back lightly hitting back on the grass.

The sports star leaned over her, but never in all Jane's life had she ever felt so safe, so protected than with this hulking figure looming over her. His smile glinted in the shadows of the firelight. Jane was laughing with him as her arms reached up for his neck, hugging him tight. His head bowed down and he planted a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"You are incredible, Jane Foster." He breathed against her skin, peeling back just far enough to kiss her on the mouth, slow and sweet. "I don't know how you do this to me."

Jane merely grinned, her hands moving up to tangle in his hair. She reached up and pecked him on the lips. "Best." _Peck_. "Risk." _Peck._ "Ever."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Jane felt drunk with euphoria as she walked along West Block corridor, her folders hugged to her chest, her phone in hand.

The screen still shone with the text Thor had sent her: _Come to W116. I have a surprise for you. Thor xx. _How could she refuse him when he put it like that? Her face wore an idiotic grin as she walked to his dorm room, heart thumping anxiously.

She was going to see his room. A part of her was privileged, as if seeing his room was some sort of milestone for them in their strange relationship, but a part of her was nervous, all too aware that all too many girls would have seen it too. That in the bed she would see Thor had bedded too many girls to put a number to.

Her throat was dry as the black numbers of that fateful door slowly loomed closer, knowing that Thor was on the other side of it.

How would he be?, she wondered. Certainly not as nervous as she was. He was too cool for that. Laid back causally on his bed maybe – that damned bed! Why couldn't she keep it out of her mind? She couldn't imagine him sat at a desk working though. Lightbulbs buzzed in her head; working... he might be working out.

Her teeth ground into her lip, trying to pretend she wasn't hovering thoughts of hot, sweaty, shirtless Thor in her head, making her eyes flutter. Juggling her stuff into one hand, her knuckles rose to knock on the door.

Then they stopped. However Thor was, he'd make Jane feel completely plain. Her fingers made a detour on the way to Thors door as they dug out her lipstick from her jean pocket, running it over her lips and finishing with a smack. She could at least try to make an effort for her godly, popular boyfriend. Her lips felt attractively sticky as she closed her mouth, feeling more worthy of Thor than she had before.

She knocked on the door promptly.

Almost instantly the excitement fluttered again. She never lost that with Thor. Every sight of him made her stomach flip, every time he held her hand her heart went into over drive, and when he kissed her... oh God, she felt like swooning just thinking about it.

But she'd finally started to accept it - he really was hers. Their heartbreakingly romantic scene by the campfire at the concert had simply melted her. There was no space for disbelief in her heart. She was falling. Hard.

It was less than a count to three before the door opened, and Jane looked doe eyed up at her admitant. The smile curved at Thor's ruffled hair and the slight huff in his breath.

Then her eyes ventured south, and chills ran through her: Thor _was _shirtless. Oh God, she realised, fighting the urge to lick her lips as she drank in his bare, muscular torso, glistening with a thin sheen of sweat. She _had _caught him working out. Her lips ghosted apart as she struggled to right his gaze to his face, as his hand brushed his hair out of his eyes.

A smile - quickly morphing into a smug grin as he noticed the direction of her gaze - spread on his lips. "Jane."

The low seductive tone of his voice snapped her eyes up to his alight with mischief. She swore her racing heart would crack her ribs at this rate! Thor ceased leaning on the doorframe and his hand reached for her cheek.

He flowed his body nearer, taking the folder out of the way between them as he did so and dumping it somewhere behind him. His two free hands cupped her cheeks, fingertips reaching into her hair. His body eased in close to hers and her hands fell instantly to the swell of his broad chest, relishing in the heat that radiated from him. God, he was simply magnificent, Jane thought as she stared up into Thor's bright, crystal blue orbs.

"You like what you see, Jane?" he purred, before his lips moved in and claimed hers in a slow, tender kiss that made Jane's head giddy.

When he pulled away, Jane's lips stayed parted. He could see her struggle to string together sentences in her head, smirking with satisfaction. Finally she gulped, her hands running down his chest to his defined abs. "You text me." she eventually squeaked.

Thor's hands ran down from her cheeks, down her neck and sliding down to her waist. He pulled her closer till her hips bumped with his, forcing her arms up and around his neck. His hand secured at the small of her back, the other lacing through her hair, holding her perfectly to his liking as his mouth touched hers again, tongue dominating hers powerfully.

He loved when her arms tightened around him further, pressing her body against his more. Just as her tongue started to put up a fight, Thor released his hand at her back and scooped her up in his arms, his surprise tactic earning an unexpected gasp from Jane.

His tongue explored her mouth unchallenged for a few moments longer before her hands found his neck again, resting by his pusle.

He'd learned she liked that. She liked the pulse at his neck and the thud of his heart in his chest. And Thor was more than willing to oblige. Sure enough, her palm found his left breast, pressing for his still quickened heartbeat.

He peeled his mouth off hers as she started to come to her senses again. His lips curved into a happy smile. "In you come, Miss Foster."

Jane giggled, as Thor stepped back and nudged the door shut with his foot, kissing her softly to distract her from examining her surroundings. She was more than satisfied as he wondered through with her in his arms, aware of nothing but the taste of his lips on hers and the music he'd been listening to in her ears.

Thor dropped down to one knee and settled Jane on the edge of the bed. His hands brushed her hair back from her face as he released her mouth with a smile. "Hi."

Her hand found his cheek as she giggled. "Why did you do that?"

Thor's great shoulders shrugged. "Because I could." His lips pecked hers tenderly again and he straightened up, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck as he turned to the playing speakers.

Jane's eyes roamed around his room, taking advantage of the oppertnunity. She had to confess, his room was neater than she'd expected. His bed was neatly made, not ruffled and reminding Jane of it's countless rendez-vous. He didn't have a desk, just piles of text books and folders stacked against the wall across the room, next to the usic speakers he crouched in front of. Then came some of the stuff she had expected: weights with ends Jane couldn't even guess at how heavy they were were on a rack by the wall, one of the largest left in the middle of the floor. There was a door by the foot of the bed and Jane could only guess it lead to his bathroom, a metal bar running through the top of the doorframe.

Then the music came to an abrupt halt and Jane's eyes shot to Thor's crouching form again. "Don't turn it off." she protested before she could help herself. Her lips flickered in a sly as he glanced at her over his shoulder. "Don't stop what you were doing on my account."

Thor's lips curved in a smirk as he jabbed the speakers back to life again and straightened up. The arrogance in his swagger was unmistakable as he wondered back to the weight on the floor.

Jane watched him calmly, putting her hands down either side of her hips and knocking her knees together. Her chin tipped up proudly.

Her ears pricked to listen to the music, acting completely oblivious as Thor crossed over the weight to the bar on the open bathroom doorway. Jane held her breath as Thor reached up and grasped it with both hands biceps standing out boldly.

"What song is this?" she asked.

She liked the tune, fast and exciting. It wasn't disimilar to the songs at the concert. The smile pricked on her face as she listened to the music.

_"Hey!_  
_Don't listen to a word I say_  
_Hey!_  
_The screams all sound the same._  
_Hey!"_

Thor grinned at her as he lifted himself on the bar off the floor, the muscles in his arms obviously bunching as they worked. "Of Monsters and Men." he grunted. "Little Talks."

"I like it." Jane smiled, eagerly running his eyes over the muscles of his stomach appreciatively. "It should have been at the concert."

"Oh no." Thor disagreed, dropping down onto the floor again with a thud. The blood was pumping fresh around his body as he stepped towards Jane again, hand reaching down to her. "That would rob us of this moment alone, wouldn't it." his grin was pure devilish as his hands closed over hers at the sides of her hips, lips leaning into hers.

Jane's lips ghosted open as Thor kissed her. His fingers closed around hers and pulled Jane to her feet, leading her to the middle of the floor. "Mm_... when we were young and full of life and full of love_..."

Jane grinned as Thor breathed the words of the song against her mouth - then laughed as his heel bumped into the weight.

"Oop." Thor chuckled, glanced down at the weight. His hands dropped away from Jane and he stepped back, crouching down and lifting the weight from the floor, turning slowly to the rack. Jane watched the muscles of his body work happily as he set it down on the rack.

He ran a hand through his hair as he turned back to her, a sheepish grin on his face. Then his eyes flickered to the speakers. "I think a change of tune is in order."

Thor crouched down by the music player and his gorgeous face was lost from view as he changed the track on his iPod. The difference was immediate; the racy tune replaced with a slow, relaxing waltz tune. Jane's heart thudded as Thor straightened up again, turning back to her slowly.

But his smile... how could she say no to that?

His hand stretched out to her and Jane slid her fingers into his slowly, cautious, but trusting him completely. His fingers laced with hers and guided her in close, his other hand soon finding her waist.

Was he really expecting her to dance?, Jane wondered with a light flutter of panic in her chest. The answer was definitely yes as Thor started to sway her to the music. Her hand moved to his bare hot chest as she tried to match his movements, slow and steady. Thor grinned down at her softly, watching her progress.

"Music seems to be our key, doesn't it?" he breathed, drawing her eyes back up to his face. "Our first meeting, our first date... and now?" His eyes linked with hers and his heart stilled in his chest. Oh, what had he done to deserve this wonderful woman? He leaned down as they danced and let his lips touch with hers so softly his heart ached in his chest.

He growled against her lips with possessiveness, hands pulling her flush against his body. "_Woman, don't you know with you I'm born again..."_

Jane's tongue darted out and seemed to taste the words from his lips, letting the primal way he rumbled _'woman' _flutter her heart.

The lyrics were true though. What had he become? He never thought such devotion was possible... yet here he was, with one woman ruling his head and heart, filling his thoughts and guiding his actions. It wasn't just him anymore. It wasn't even them. It was all her. And Thor didn't understand it for the life of him, but he didn't care, as long as she stayed.

"I'm starting to think going to that party was the best decision I ever made." Jane breathed over his mouth.

A smile flickered over Thor's lips. "Really? I would have thought the best decision was accepting my drink. Without that, you never would have danced with me, let alone kiss me that night." His arms tightened even more and he span her round gracefully. "And I would never have been so infatuated with you, Miss Foster."

Her thumping heart stamped out the instintive giggle, Thor litterally stealing her breath away.

"What did you ask me here for?" She finally managed to sigh.

Thor's lips stretched in an angelic smile, too pure than should be posssible for a guy with a searing hot shirtless body on display. "Am I not allowed to see my girlfriend just to tell her I love her?" he grinned gently, lifting his mouth to press a loving kiss to Jane's cheek.

Jane's heart stopped in her chest, her lips ghosting open. All slyness and coyness left her eyes as they roundened innocently. Had he... had he really just said that? His smile held, soft and sincere. "I... you..."

Thor's mouth moved closer to hers again. "I love you, Jane Foster." His lips pecked hers, obviously enjoying catching her at her moment off guard.

Her fingers curled into a loose fist against his chest, trying to blink through her absolute shock. Her mouth hung open gormlessly, but come on - it wasn't every day you got a guy like Thor confess he loves you! Jane's heart thudded, the sound completely engulfing her senses.

That was, until Thor's mouth eased forward and touched her lips again, kissing her in time with the music.

"_I was half, not whole,_

_In step with none..."_

He murmured against her lips softly between kisses, his mouth grazing over hers in a feather light touch.

_"Reaching through this world,_

_In need of one..."_

Jane let herself sigh at the words, loving that Thor was saying them to her, his breath on her lips, his arm at her waist. Her fingers strayed on his chest as his tongue touched hers softly, her fingertips dancing delicate patterns in the magnificent swell of his pectoral muscle.

The dancing was abandoned as Thor's fingers moved to lace through her hair again, Jane opening her mouth, granting him willing access. Her body shoved forward insistantly as the kiss leapt up in passion.

Jane felt her blood sing as Thor's hand tightened in her hair, his mouth moving deliciously with hers. Then her heart went into furious overdrive as his body forced her back, hers only all too willing to oblige. The edge of the bed folded her knees for her and Thor's hands released her to save her from his weight as they crashed down on the sheets. Hers were free to delve in his hair.

This was something new to them. The concert had opened up kissing, but _this_... this was no mere kiss, and the both of them knew it.

Thor reigned in the last of his conscious thought, trying to control the rush of raging passion that burned up inside him. He'd let things go too far, he knew, and only then became aware of Jane's thighs either side of his hips. He let Jane gasp for air.

"Does Darcy still think I got you pregnant?" He grinned breathlessly, trying to push past his mistake.

Jane was different, he told himself. He wasn't going out with her just to sleep with her. He adored her for her heart and soul not just her body. His heart bought it...his body sure didn't. He didn't have the will to pull away, despite their provocative position.

"Every damned day." Jane breathed back, lips pecking up against his. "She's obssessed. She thinks that's the only reason I went out with you."

Thor chuckled. "Great. So now that I've convinced you I'm serious, I just have everyone else left to target next." his mouth leaned down again, despite his better judgement. "You're so much trouble for me, Jane Foster."

"It's a good thing you love me then, isn't it." Her eyes sparkled teasingly.

Thor's grin was almost feral as he descended again, lips ravishing urgently against hers. Jane moaned into his mouth at the demandingness, the hard contact of their bodies sending her mind spinning. Lack of boyfriends did not mean lack of experience. She recognised this surge in adrenaline in a heartbeat.

Her arms closed around Thor's neck to hold him to her, when his lips stilled. For a second Jane froze. What?, she wondered. Why had he stopped? She could feel his teeth graze her as he bit his lip.

In the time she'd blinked Thor had straightened off the bed and had crossed the room to the speakers, turning the romantic music off definitively.

Jane lurched herself upright and tried to pat down her ruffled hair, her cheeks heated. The reality of what they'd been carreering towards hit her hard. "I'm sorry." she blurted, her stunned orbs well trained to the floor ashamed. "I shouldn't have-"

"No_, I _shouldn't have." Thor voice sounded heavy and Jane's heart tugged at the disappointed look in his orbs as he turned round. Upset with himself, his words told. His gaze drifted away from her and he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I wanted this to be special, and now I fear I've ruined it."

Jane's protest sprung to her lips as she rose to her feet, quick to shake her head. "You haven't ruined anything." She wished he would meet her eye, but his gaze stayed firmly locked to the side, almost ashamedly.

His eyes shot to her face as she stepped forward and touched her hand to his at his side, grasping his fingers firmly. For a moment he just stared. Then his fingers squeezed, eyes serious. "Surely my reputation preceeds me?" His hand closed around hers more fully and held it tighter. He closed the gap between them with a half step. "Truly Jane, I want to be more honourable with you. I want to take this slow." Just to prove it, he added in his head. To prove he really cared about her as much as he felt in his heart.

A small smile pricked at Jane's lips and her shoulders shrugged. "Is there mabybe such a thing as too slow?"

Her eyelashes batted up at him. The wench, he thought, trying to seduce him. Thor's lips spread in a disbelieving grin, head shaking lightly from side to side. He pressed his lips together, eyes suddenly bright as his hands fell with control to her waist. Was she trying to shred his control on purpose?

Probably, he thought as her hands moved to his bare chest, examining every shape of his toned torso.

"That surprise you mentioned." She sighed heatedly on his shoulder, thinking back to the text that had brought her here in the first place, her phone long forgotten in the pocket of her jeans. "What was it?"

Thor chuckled and moved his lips by her ear, pinning her hands still between their two bodies to cease her tantilizing teasing. "Happy anniversary, darling." he breathed softly, pulling back just far enough to press a tender kiss to her cheek.

The breath stilled in her lungs, a fraction of a second before her forehead thudded down onto Thor's shoulder. She groaned into the hard muscle.

"Oh God." she screwed her eyes shut, glad Thor's arms held her to his body so he couldn't see the absolute shame written on her face. "Really?" Her heart dropped to her stomach and she groaned again. "I'm so sorry."

Thor was chuckling as he eased her back. That was good right?, she worried frantically in her head. He wasn't mad at her. She was more than mad enough at herself for the both of them! She couldn't even name the date Thor had asked her out let alone keep track of anniversaries. Whatever excuse, she felt like an awful human being as Thor smiled down at her, ignoring her glum, guilty expression.

His thumb stroked over her cheek. "Well, it's not a conventional anniversary." He confessed with a bashful smile. "I didn't acknowledge our first month or our second because I was still anxious you were considering breaking up with me. But now, three months..."

Jane was helpless to deny him as he leaned forward, her lips parting on instinct. His mouth pressed against hers in one firm kiss.

"I think we're pretty solid." he breathed over her, Jane tasting the sweetness of his breath on her tongue. Combined with the velvetty softness of his voice, her eyes fluttered shut in bliss.

Her lips parted in a dreamy smile, and her hands ran over the muscles of his chest. "Is this my gift then?" she grinned, keeping her eyes shut.

Thor chuckled, and feeling it through the palms of her hands made Jane's heart skip a beat. She felt Thor's fingers explore into her hair from the nape of her neck, grasping a gentle handful. "You wish." he rumbled in that gloriously deep tone, and Jane could feel his wicked smirk against the side of her neck.

Jane allowed herself to giggle, loving the way Thor just melted her. God, he really was incredible! She wanted nothing more than to just leave her eyes shut like this forever, never leaving Thor's warm strong arms, and - most importanty - keeping him shirtless until the skies fell around them.

"But there is one thing I would ask of you."

Jane reluctantly peeled her eyes open as Thor slowly pulled back, and she looked into his molten crystal orbs curiously. She missed the whole contact, though her palms moved with his chest as if glued to his body.

The grin tweaked when she took in Thor's playful light peeking through his eyes though: "Tell Darcy you are pregnant." he smirked. "I want to see her reaction."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 **

"You son of a-"

"Darcy!"

Jane span into the open doorway of Thor's room, just in time to Darcy throw herself at an unsuspecting Thor. He turned – then stepped back, a flash of alarm in his eyes as he took in the furious woman attacking him.

For all Darcy's wild eyed rage though, Thor just blinked as the fists pounded into his torso and legs kicked his calves. He even had the audacity to_ smirk _after a few minutes, Darcy's blows not enough for him to even lose balance_. _Jane brushed her hair back from her eyes and caught Thor's eyes over Darcy's fighting form, evidently putting everything she had into pulverising the sports star. It wasn't working out.

Jane slumped against the doorframe, breathing out a sigh. Her shoulders shrugged at her boyfriend.

"I take it you told her then." Thor grinned from across the room. He'd left his door open intentionally while Jane had pulled her friend into the corridor to 'talk'; he'd wanted to listen to this!

Jane pressed her lips together. She didn't even need to say it.

"You bastard!" Darcy growled, eyes blazing uncontrollably. "Do you know what you've freakin' done?!"

"Darcy…"

"Don't '_Darcy' _me, Jane. I knew this guy was bad news. Just looking at him makes girls ovaries cry!"

Thor had no doubt that his smirk was the most patronising thing in the world to Darcy, something she exaggerated by pounding her fists into his chest harder. Thor hardly noticed: he chuckled in amusement, even Jane snuffling her laughs with her hand at the doorway.

Darcy's eyes darkened venomously. "All that door holding and stuff carrying was just to butter up her womb for you, wasn't it? Well, screw you, dickhead!" Thor's grin was wiped off his face as she landed a well-aimed kick to the sensitive front of his shins and he bent over instinctively at the impact. Darcy took the lowered opportunity to draw her palm back and strike Thor harshly across the face, the loud crack of skin on skin stopping Jane's laughs in a heartbeat.

Her eyes roundened in shock. Thor's head was snapped to the side from the blow, his eyes wide and stunned as he dropped to his knees. His cheek burned.

Darcy stilled in her attack, though her small body still hefted with contained anger. Slowly, Thor turned his face front ways again, catching Jane's 'o' shaped mouth frozen in the doorway. He blinked at Darcy, eyes running up and down her furious form as if he'd never seen her before.

"Darcy…" he breathed, an element of awe in his voice. His head nodded lightly as if to his own thoughts. "That was some hit. Bravo."

Jane let a relieved sigh leave her as Thor reached up a hand a tentatively touched his reddened cheek. He wasn't hurt. Thank God. She realised how damned ridiculous the thought sounded mere seconds later – as if there was ever a chance Darcy could hurt him!

Still, he had a point, Jane admitted. That slap… she made a mental note never to get in a fight with her friend. She'd be a much more broken target than Thor if she found herself on the end of one of those slaps! When had her friend been able to hit like that? She was sharply reminded that the danger was far from over as Darcy raised another fist.

She leapt forward and caught it in her hands before Darcy could rain it down on her boyfriend's perfect face. This was going too far now. "Whoa, Darce! Let up."

"Let up?!" Darcy tugged her fist free, not noticing Thor rise to his feet again as she faced her friend. "The dude impregnated you and you want me to _let up_?!"

Jane's smirk pricked despite her best intentions and flickered to Thor's, his mischievous expression matching hers. Hers was marred with a tint of guilt though. "I'm not pregnant." She finally confessed, eying Darcy's twitching hand cautiously, bracing her knees to duck.

Thor chuckled behind her, but didn't silence himself as Darcy turned her murderous, defensive eyes on him. "I wanted to see your reaction." He smirked, loosely bracing himself for another attack. "Jane's not pregnant."

The air stilled.

For a tense moment, Darcy just glared at him, her mouth a thin, dangerous line. The anger in her orbs was more controlled now, flecked with something else, but Thor didn't ease so quickly. Slowly, her arms folded over her chest. "You …" She growled darkly, her finger pointed threateningly up at the sports star. Then a proud sigh left her lips and she let it fall. "Are an evil little bastard. You know that? I underestimated you."

Jane breathed an audible sigh of relief that she wouldn't have to haul her best friend off of her man. She wasn't sure if she was physically capable of it anyway – Darcy had superhuman strength when she was made.

Thor let out a laugh. "Only not so little."

"No damned denying that." Darcy grumbled under her breath.

Jane took a step forward, deeming the battle field safe at last. Her eyes were drawn to Thor's cheek. "You didn't have to hit him, Darce."

She scurried to Thor in seconds, her hands reaching up to cradle his face and inspect the damage herself. His left cheek was an angry, sensitive red from Darcy's slap, and Jane gritted her teeth as if she could feel it stinging herself. She didn't dare run her thumb testingly over the brutalised skin.

Thor's hand found her wrist and gently tugged it away. "It doesn't hurt, Jane." He reassured, shooting down a soothing smile as if that would relieve the upset in her features.

"Damn."

Jane shot a hard look over her shoulder. "Darcy!"

Her friend shamelessly shrugged her shoulders, an unrelenting calm in Darcy's eyes. "What? He deserved it."

"He didn't get me pregnant!"

Shrug. "Then call it payback for when he _does_ eventually get you pregnant and I'll spare him then. And he still lied to me. Unforgivable."

Jane's roll of her eyes was cut off by Thor's large palm cupping her cheek and guiding her back to him. The warm comfort of his wondrous, loving crystal blue orbs simply melted her heart, and she breathed out her irritation. His lips curved in a smile. "Anniversary present complete." He grinned. "That was priceless. Well done, darling."

Jane didn't have the will to resist as Thor leaned down and softly pressed his lips to hers, simply fluttering her eyes shut, tilting her face up to meet him. Her lips ghosted apart for him as he kissed her.

"Ew…" Darcy's obviously disgruntled voice said. Jane could just imagine the disgusted wrinkle of her nose behind her back. "Yeah, I'm gonna go. But Jane?"

"Mm?" She hummed, not taking her lips off Thor's.

"This is war."

That single statement sent chills through Jane's system, her heart dropping to her stomach in instant dread. Her mouth tore off Thor's as she span around, but the door had already thudded shut behind Darcy's retreating form, leaving Jane's fearful questions unanswered. She swore in her head. _Damn_… she didn't even want to think of the cruel, mischievous things Darcy might have lined up for her.

Arms laced around her waist from behind, oblivious of the panic that was surging through Jane's system. But those strong arms were the best comforter, and her fingertips instinctively rose to trace the thick forearms.

Thor's lips nuzzled into the side of Jane's neck tenderly.

"See the things I do for you." She sighed, unable to fight the happy endorphins that had a party in her brain every time Thor held her. She basked in her boyfriend's warmth as he drew her back against his chest. "I've brought down the wrath of Darcy."

His chuckle tickled her skin and Jane squirmed, the smile blossoming on her face at the sensation. Thor's arms held her firm, refusing her escape. "It was worth it."

"Easy for you to say." Jane mused playfully, nudging him back lightly in the ribs. "You won't be the one she targets."

Her head tipped to the side, glancing over her shoulder as far as Thor's possessive arms would allow. Still, was she really complaining? Not really – especially as Thor's lips left her neck and grazed over her mouth instead, his tongue nipping out and tasting her. Jane fought to turn more; Thor knew those tantalizing little nips always left her eager. His arms held her strong though, his powerful hands flat against her stomach, holding her back. His thumbs stroked over the thin material of her shirt.

Jane sighed, her hand reaching up and tangling in Thor's hair as if she could pull him further round to her. God, he was such a tease, she thought as he held off.

Then Thor's mouth sealed on hers, a kiss so deep and slow it made Jane's heart simply melt with adoration. Thor's arms slacked. She didn't waste the opportunity, twisting round smoothly in his arms to press her body wholly against his chest arms draping around his neck. Her body just sung with appreciation, feeling the muscles of his torso firm and strong against her soft figure, separated by the thin sheets of their clothing.

The heat glowed in Jane's body at the contact, and her lips probed for more of their own accord, her conscious thought long since abandoned. Thor's arms crushed around her waist.

... and then the phone rang.

Thor growled against Jane's lips as 'Star Trekkin' Across The Universe' blared from his phone on his bed, his lips lingering on hers.

The passion fled Jane's body in a rush. Her brow furrowed as she peeled her mouth off Thor's and turned her head, staring at the phone on the sheets. Was she really hearing that noise? Really? Her eyes flickered to Thor again and she caught the irritation that flashed over his expression. "That's your ringtone?" she asked, hardly daring to believe someone as cool as he had a ringtone so... dorky. "Seriously?"

Thor's arms dropped from around her and he'd snatched up the phone with one long stride to the bed. His eyes glared down at it. "Loki." He rumbled, more to himself than to Jane. Then his eyes flickered up to her. "He changes my ringtone when I am unawares." He said in explanation. "He was always one for mischief."

Jane nodded, but was still a little unnerved at the childish tune playing. Her arms draped over her chest. Maybe she was still just irritated, like Thor, that their little session had been interrupted.

"No wonder he and Darcy get along so well." She murmured under her breath, as Thor hit the call button.

"What?" he barked harshly into the phone.

Jane simply watched, the speaker unknown to her as Thor listened silently to them on the other end of the line. Her brow started to dip as his did, slowly witnessing his annoyance melt away with confusion.

"What?" He repeated, his voice higher pitched as if stunned. He abruptly dropped the tone to one lower, one darker. "What is it exactly that you are suggesting?" he growled, his confusion washed over with a scary aggression, a hostility in his orbs that made Jane's heart skip a beat.

_What was going on?_, she wondered anxiously at Thor's obviously souring mood. What on earth was he hearing? "Who is it?" She asked.

Thor's dark, silencing orbs quietened her.

Then he turned his attention back to the caller, blatant anger in his swirling crystal orbs. "Look, whatever transpires between Jane and I is our business." He snarled dangerously into the phone.

Jane's heart stilled in her chest – whoever it was was talking about her and Thor. And judging by his reaction, it wasn't good stuff.

She watched Thor's eyes narrow and felt a twang of panic in her chest. "I appreciate your concern Professor Selvig, but you are wasting your time."

Jane's jaw dropped in shock. Professor Selvig… as in _her _Professor? Really? Why was he calling Thor? _About you obvious_, a snide voice cut in her head, cutting back to the venomous conversation from Thor's end. But why was her professor intruding in her personal life for? As Thor had said, it was _their _business.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but I have no intention of breaking up with her."

Jane was resisting the urge to step forward and rip the phone out of Thor's hand. She didn't want to hear any more of this. She wasn't sure she could take it.

Tears sprung up unexplainably in her eyes and her head shook from side to side at the thought of Thor breaking up with her. That … no, that couldn't happen. Yet Professor Selvig wanted it to. Thor's hard orbs flickered up to her, but he froze when he saw the look on her face.

His orbs melted with concern. "Leave us alone, Professor Selvig." He barked hurriedly down the line, eager to end the call as soon as possible. He wanted to take Jane in his arms and reassure her as soon as possible. "Don't call me again."

His thumb hung up and in the same second he stepped forward, letting the phone fall to the floor as his hands freed to cup Jane's shoulders. He held her gently from backing away another shocked step. Her face looked a touch paler than it should do, her eyes distant and horrified. Thor hated the professor for it. His hands moved to either side of her face, and angled her eyes to his. Her eyes glistening with fright.

"Jane, look at me." he ordered in a calm voice. Her orbs flickered up obediently, but Thor simply thought she didn't have the will to resist. His thumb stroked her cheek comfortingly. "It's alright." He soothed. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"He wanted you to break up with me?" Jane squeaked, blinking furiously to banish the tears before they could spring free.

Thor hesitated before he answered. "Yes, but I'm not going to." He said determinedly. "He thinks being with me is going to damage your grades. He thinks I'm a bad influence... that point he made very clear."

Jane's fingers hooked on Thor's wrists as if he was going to disappear. The tears blinked away but the anguish that they left behind was harder to banish. "But he's wrong." she protested, orbs glistening with despair as if Thor really was breaking up with her despite what he'd said. "He doesn't know you like I do."

"I know. I know."

Thor let his arms slip around her body, holding her frantic form against his chest as if that would soothe her. He could feel her racing heartbeat between them.

His hand cupped the back of her head, his lips by her ear as he tucked his chin over her shoulder. "Relax, Jane." he whispered. "I'm not going anywhere." His fingers stroked through her hair, refusing to let her out of his warm embrace until she'd settled. "As if I'm damaging to your education." he chuckled over her shoulder, trying to lighten the mood. "It was I who brought back your work after you'd misplaced it, wasn't it? Without me you'd be in much deeper water than you are now."

He was glad when Jane giggled, feeling her body shudder lightly from it within his arms. He didn't pull back though, until he felt her relax against him. Her slow, calming breath tingled through his shirt as she settled herself down again, her arms rising to wind around his waist.

Thor pulled back slightly and watched her anxious expression soften with relief. Her mouth flickered in a small smile. Thor mirrored it warmly before leaning forward and grazing his lips over hers softly.

"Don't listen to him." He murmured quietly. "I won't go anywhere until you tell me you don't want me."

A small gap parted their lips but Jane's hands clung to the muscles in his back tighter. "I'll never not want you."

Thor let himself grin shamelessly, his heart thudding madly in his chest at her words. Jane's breath washed over his lips tantalizingly, doing nothing to clear his thoughts. He didn't care one whit, not having the will to come up with some cocky, clever response to her loyal declaration. Let her professor do his worst; Jane wasn't going to leave him.

His mouth swooped in and claimed hers, sealing the silent promise to one another.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Jane was blinking furiously as she fled from the lab, struggling to hold the binders from falling to the floor. Her vision was finely blurred, her thoughts of nothing but getting away to somewhere isolated to let loose.

She even forgot the blond angel that stood waiting for her.

"Jane!"

She didn't stop, even when she heard her name being called, quickly leaving her boyfriend in the crowded corridor behind. Jane's heart squeezed in her chest and, for reasons she didn't understand, she felt even worse. She hugged her work to her body as she strode on, more desperate than ever for that quiet place.

There was no way she could out run Thor forever but she just couldn't face him. She knew the moment she did she would just lose control.

But her lengthy, hurried strides were only delaying the inevitable with Thor weaving through the students with unearthly agility, spurred on by his concern. His brow was well furrowed as he took on his pursuit. What was wrong? There had to be something – Jane wouldn't purposely ignore him – run away from him! – without a reason.

She hadn't even reached the end of the corridor before Thor's fingers hooked her upper arm and swung her round. He held on firmly – but not hard – refusing to let her tugs pull her away. His heart fell in a heartbeat.

Jane's eyes were downcast but Thor could tell instantly that they were filled with tears, her teeth having a firm grip on her lower lip. His chest bled painfully.

"Jane, what is it?" His voice was deep and demanding, and he watched Jane shrivel even deeper into herself at his words. Not in fear though. Just… gods, were there even words to describe how brokenly upset she looked.

He decided the answer could wait.

Shrugging off his jacket he slung it round Jane's shoulders, as if the warm garment could comfort her a little longer in his place, until he could get them to seclusion. His hands stayed cupping her shoulders over the jacket as he guided her on, leading her from the corridor with a fast pace she was only too eager to accommodate.

Thor watched her curiously as they walked instinctively to his dorm; her face stayed buried low beneath the collar of his jacket, her fingers clinging to the material to keep it hugged firmly around her. All the while, he was very scared. What had happened? Jane was normally so strong, even in her quiet little way. And yet here she was, almost in tears. Thor was afraid; he'd never even seen Jane upset in the months they'd been dating, let alone knew how to handle it or what caused it!

It took a painstakingly long time to get back to West Block and Thor's key seemed determined to slow him down further. He growled consistently at the lock, ready to rip the door clean off its hinges if it would get Jane away from prying eyes any faster.

The moment the mechanism clicked in admission, Thor swept her inside. He closed the door behind them in one swift motion.

"What is it?" he asked instantly, as Jane kept on walking. Thor hovered by the door as she walked out of his arms and stopped in the middle of the room, her back to Thor, the jacket hanging down to her lower thighs.

For a heart stopping second, there was just stillness and silence. Then Jane put her head down and Thor couldn't take it anymore.

"Jane." Her name left his lips in a quiet breath and he strode forward briskly, just needing to hold her, to do something for her. He walked round to her front and peeled the folders from her arms. Her elbows clicked and her limbs followed the binders they'd been clinging to so tightly, but Thor prised them free and stepped into the place they'd once occupied. "What happened?"

His arms wound round and held her softly, and he felt her stiffen, battling to keep her composure. It broke as she hugged him back, hard.

Thor could do nothing but wait as Jane sobbed freely into his chest, the tears dampening the front of his shirt, and every weak cry that left her lips carving a pained notch in his heart. His eyes were glistening with sorrow, feeling her body wrack with uncharacteristic sobs in his arms. He felt so helpless. So useless…

What on earth could have done this? He knew Jane didn't normally like her classes that much but he'd never seen her leave in tears, let alone needing to comfort her like this! What could have hurt her?

Thor's mind scoured desperately for possibilities. She'd been happy yesterday, and the whole week before. The whole month even… so somewhere between Jane entering the class and her leaving, something had happened, something Thor didn't know about. His arms crushed her tighter to him as if holding her would ease the pain in his chest.

Jane hiccupped as she fought to reign in her breakdown, gulping down the tears as her body started to still. Thor didn't let go. He still felt broken.

Jane's fingers clutched at his shirt, grabbing great fistfuls as she held on to him, like he was the only thing anchoring her to the earth. She didn't want him to go. She really didn't… "I-I hate them!" she choked shudderingly.

Thor's arms tightened further, and Jane sighed into his shirt at the reassuring contact. "Who?" he asked, his voice growling quietly. "Who did this, Jane?"

She peeled her head off his chest and eased back, her hand searching for his cheek. It found it swiftly, quickly covered by his own. She stared into his orbs, her heart thudding; they were blazing, absolutely aflame with fury … but Jane could still see the wounded fleck in their crystal depths, hurt that she was hurt. She became acutely aware of his strong hand on her waist, holding her firmly. She could feel the barely restrained power beneath his touch.

Suddenly, she was a little afraid of answering him. "Tell me, Jane." He urged, chest rising and falling definitively with his contained rage. "Tell me who is responsible."

Jane gulped, but said nothing.

He's here, she thought. She was just glad he was here. She didn't want anybody beat up on her behalf. She tried to lower her head back down to his chest, but Thor's hand left her waist and angled her eyes to his again, refusing to let her bow out.

She sighed imploringly. "Just… just tell me we're okay." She pleaded. "Tell me you won't leave me. Please."

She watched the words crack something in Thor's orbs and his concern for her rushed forth. His lips honed in on her instantly, pressing to her mouth in an embrace so tender Jane's heart ached. "What?" he breathed against her lips. "Of course I won't leave you, Jane. I love you."

That was it; bells rang in Thor's head. Suddenly it became very clear as to the problem, Thor sharply reminded of the last time this topic had arose.

He peeled his mouth back from hers stiffly, a hard, wary look in his eyes. "Has Professor Selvig said something else?"

Her gulp gave him his answer but her hands gripped at his biceps, the only thing stopping him from marching to the scientists office there and then. "Not just him." Jane finally confessed. "The girls were bitchy and…" her eyes lowered and Thor could hear the broken, defeated tone as she confessed: "Matt Chisten said you didn't love me. That I was just your whore on tap."

The breath stilled in his chest.

How… how could anybody say that to Jane?, Thor wondered with horror, still struggling to believe that people could be so cruel. It hit him as true with a flood of blazing anger.

His teeth gritted. Matt Chisten – oh, he would pay for this!, Thor promised darkly in his head. For making Jane cry, for what he said… all of it. How dare he call Jane a whore. How dare he suggest that Thor would do any less than give his life for this woman.

Jane's eyes widened as the saw the coldblooded intent in Thor's and she stepped to block his path as he moved to get to the door. Her hands clung to him.

"Don't." She pleaded. "Thor, just leave it."

Thor strode to the door, Jane's tugging on his arm making no difference. "I cannot let him say things like that to you and let him get away with it, Jane."

Jane started to tear afresh. This wasn't what she wanted. She just wanted him to hold her and make it better. Beating Matt up would only make her feel worse. "Please!" she implored as Thor's hand closed over the door handle. "Don't make me hate you too."

That stopped him; he swung around fast, targeting his furious orbs to her. His head shook, as if he couldn't believe her. Finally, his hand dropped from the door. "I'm trying to do you justice, Jane." He argued darkly. "How can you be so passive after he sent you back to me in tears?!"

Jane clung to his hand and tried to ease him back into the room. One step was all he would concede. "This won't make me feel better. Why can't you see that?"

"Jane…" Thor stepped to close the gap between them, his hands finding the sides of her face softly. His orb's hard edge had broken. "I don't want anyone to think you mean so little to me. If nothing else, I have to set the record straight."

Jane clung to his wrists, sensing he still wanted to beat Matt Chisten back into his place. "Not now." She begged, feeling her misery grow again. "Please. I need you with me."

The indecision that cut through Thor's orbs was heart-breaking but exactly what Jane was glad to see at the same time. He wanted with every fibre of his being to destroy Matt Chisten but if that would only cause Jane more hurt, when she needed his support …his shoulders slumped with defeat.

Jane stepped firmer into his arms, breathing a sigh of relief as the warmth of his shirt touched her cheek again. This was what she wanted. His mere presence never failed to soothe her heart. The world could be collapsing around her but as long as Thor was there, his strong arms holding her, his lips kissing away her tears… she'd stay happy forever if he could only stay with her.

She peeled her head back only far enough to call for his mouth silently. In a heartbeat, he was kissing her.

Jane threw her body at him, pressing them together as she kissed him more demandingly. She needed it. He was like a plaster over a wound. He made everything feel so much better. Her arms wound around his waist, accidentally tugging the hem of his shirt up with them.

Her fingers touched the bare hot skin of his back, and Thor pulled away from her firmly. "Jane." He sighed, eyes still blissfully closed as he straightened up and unwound her arms from his waist definitively. "Don't." he groaned. "We agreed we would take it slow."

Jane felt her damaged pride cushion as her hand slipped through his and found the hem of his shirt again, brushing his belt. Her fingers splayed on the warm expanse of his muscular torso, easing herself closer. Her hands slowly crept upwards, dragging his shirt with it. "We've been dating for nearly five months, Thor." She breathed, fingertips touching the swell of his pectoral muscles over his chest. She swore her heart skipped a beat. "I think we've waited long enough."

Thor evidently had more resolve than she did; his hands found her wrists and tugged them down. "Jane…" his voice was stern, but Jane didn't miss the touch of yearning in his tone.

Her face scrunched with upset as Thor released her completely and strode past her to his bed. He sat down and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Jane watched him with a spark of her own anger peeking through – she knew he wanted to sleep with her, so why the hell was he being so 'noble' all of a sudden?!

Her fists clenched and her wounded pride from class snapped. "Even you're turning away from me now!" she half shrieked at him, feeling her heart crack with lonely rejection. "So you don't love me enough to sleep with me, is that it? I probably don't hold a candle to all the other girls you've bedded over the years!"

Thor's head shot up so fast his neck clicked, but Jane's miserable expression didn't break. Her arms folded defensively over her chest.

"Don't say things like that, Jane." Thor finally snarled, his discontent with what she'd said winning over his surprise. He rose to his feet and crossed to her again, hands gripping her upper arms firmly. "You know that is not why we have waited."

Jane's eyes were glistening when they lifted to his. "All I want is for you to love me and remind me that everything the others say is all wrong." She said quietly. "But you won't."

"Love isn't just sex, Jane-"

"But it's a part of it." Jane insisted, dropping her guarded posture to press her hands against his chest again. She hitched in a breath, the depth of what she was asking finally settling in. Her finger tips rose to his neck, needing to feel some skin on skin contact. "I want you to _show_ me how much you love me."

Her eyes blinked up from where they'd been coyly eyeing his torso and glittered up at the weakening sports star. She could feel her advantage as Thor's hands loosed from her arms and started to stray lower.

She pushed herself up on her toes and grabbed a fistful of Thor's shirt at the same time, their lisp meeting in the middle. She could taste the heat behind his lips.

This time, Thor was less willing to pull back. His mouth was hot and hungry on hers as he pulled her to him, his arms hugging her tightly to him. She felt his fingertips hover under the hem of her shirt, brushing the skin beneath. "Are you sure?" he breathed between passionate kisses. "Once we do this we cannot go back."

Jane only pushed herself against him further. Her hands clawed at his shirt at his crack in will and they parted for a heartbeat for them to yank it over his head. Jane's fingertips touched his bared chest with a contented sigh. "I want this, Thor." She affirmed, her fingers marking a determined path down his defined abs to his belt. "I want you."

An animalistic growl that set Jane's blood on fire left Thor's throat and her shirt left her body with a distinct rip. The gasp that left her was stolen by Thor's devouring lips.

Conscious thought left her as the bulge in Thor's jeans pressed against her exposed belly and Thor tugged her back, both of them crashing down into the sheets in a tangle of passion fuelled limbs. The last of their clothing was shed quickly.

Jane couldn't let him go for the world, more willing to die than leave the strong confines of his arms as they coupled. Her arms hugged him close as he made love to her, sharing themselves with the other in the most intimiate way possible. Jane sighed with happiness, knowing this was what she wanted, that Thor was what she wanted. It didn't matter what anyone thought, what anyone did. Here... now... this was real. Thor loved her, and Jane loved him back with all her heart.

She'd never felt more complete in her life.

**NOTE**

**Guys, can you please stop being review-frigid. Please. Losing the will to live here.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Jane's mind was a blur as she ran through the corridors at the speed of light, her paper's flying shamelessly behind her. _They didn't matter_, she thought, wide eyes carving her path ahead.

All that mattered was Thor - her Thor, that was stood in the front courtyard of the university, ready to square off with Matt Chisten. Oh God, she thought as she threw herself down the staircase, leaping down the steps. He hadn't been able to let it go obviously, when Matt Chisten had sent her back to Thor's arms in tears...

Tears formed in the backs of her eyes again at the thought of her boyfriend hurt, not wanting to believe it. Why the hell would he do this?! Didn't he know she just wanted to forget it.

She should have known Thor wouldn't let this sort of thing go unchallenged.

Jane burst out into the courtyard and instantly knew she was in the right place; she flew into the crowd that thickened over the green. She elbowed and shoved her way forward, fighting her way to the centre, to Thor.

Her eyes flashed over shoulders as she neared the origin of the commotion. Excited chatter surrounded her, and Jane let herself take comfort in that despite her thudding heart. If the fight was already underway there would be shouts, she reasoned. Support for the chosen fighter. They weren't up yet - perhaps she still had a chance to stop it.

She cried out in instinct as she glimpsed the unmistakable towering, muscular form of Thor stood face to face with Matt Chisen. He faced away from her, but Jane had no doubt his expression was thunderous: "Thor!"

Her boyfriend spun around at her shout, and Jane winced as she took in just how vulnerable he'd left himself to his enemy just for her. Still, she met the full force of his blazing eyes and a part of her froze inside, terrified. This was what Matt Chisen was to fight? There looked more beast than man behind those furious orbs...

Loki's hand closed around Jane's arm and tugged her free of the front row of the crowd as Thor turned and strode towards them. The history students grip was firm, Thor's jacket draped over his arm; Jane wasn't going anywhere.

Thor's fists were still angrily clenched as he reached his brother and his girlfriend, still in battle mode. Jane felt her heart sink.

"What are you doing here?!" Thor hissed down at her.

Jane felt something inside her quail. _No, _she reprimanded herself, forcing her back to draw herself up proudly, despite Thor's intimidating gaze. She was his girlfriend, and Thor wouldn't hurt her - she refused to be bullied down into submission.

She hardened her eyes defiantly, but there was no masking the glittering concern tat peeked through. "I heard you were going to fight Matt Chisen." she said bolder than she felt.

"You heard right." he growled shamelessly. His eyes ran up and down Jane's dishevelled form, and Jane was glad to see some of the humanity return to his orbs, cracking the brutal hostility. One hand unclenched enough to cup her shoulder. It still felt stiff, though. "But I do not want you to see." he said in a softer voice. "Go back to your dorm and wait for me there." His eyes flickered to the side, obviously thinking of the opponent behind him (now in conference with his own friends), a murderous streak flashing. "I will not be long." he snarled.

Jane's hands shot out and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as Thor started to turn away. He didn't stop until his momentum started to drag Jane forward from Loki's grip, pausing at last.

His teeth were gritted as he turned back to her. "Jane let me go before you get hurt." he warned darkly.

Jane didn't budge. "Let it go, Thor."

Thor's eyes narrowed. "No." he refused. "He insulted your honour, and I can't let that go unchallenged. I love you too much for that, Jane."

"If you really loved me, you'd _let it go_." Jane insisted, a blaze of her own in her gaze. She couldn't deny she was just a little bit hurt, chipping at her heart painfully.

It had been a week since Jane had fled miserable with Thor back to his room. Where she'd confessed Matt Chisten's insults, and... and when she and Thor had... she still found it hard to believe that hadn't been a dream. She and Thor had actually made love. Not sex - that was too brutal, too mindless. What she and Thor had done... there was nothing but tenderness, love and adoration behind that, and Jane wouldn't trade that night for the world.

But this, the dark eyed man stood in front of her, hand tightening at her shoulder as his patience started to slip - this wasn't the man she'd given herself to. She didn't know this person. This wasn't her Thor.

It didn't stop her heart fluttering with blind panic though as Thor brushed her hands clear of his shirt.

"Loki," Thor growled, his eyes turning round over his shoulder to fix venomously on Matt Chisten as the stocky science student conferred darkly with his own mate. "Keep her out of the way."

Jane's protests were silenced with a firm tug from the history student, pulling her back as Thor turned to stride into the circular clearing. Jane's heart was in her mouth as Matt joined him. The two men circled slowly like animals, sizing up the others weaknesses, waiting for an opening. Suddenly, Jane felt numb with dread.

She saw the muscles in Thor's arms bunch in preparation and she wondered _why the hell _Matt Chisten didn't run for the hills while he still could!

Jane gave up her struggling against Loki's hold, surrendering to the arm around her middle just to hold her up as terror for her boyfriend washed through her. It was totally irrational, of course. She had every faith that Thor would be fine... but what if he did gte hurt? Her teeth gnawed anxiously at her finger, her spare hand rising to grasp Loki's sleeve in a death grip.

_How could he be so calm?!, _Jane shrieked in her head, glimpsing Loki's stony, impassive face briefly. She was freaking out here!

She put it firmly out of her mind, focussing firmly on the circling men in the imaginary arena. Her mind was just swamped with thoughts of broken bones, bruises, bloody faces... and the thought of that happening to Thor just made her feel sick. Her knees were touchy as she clung to Loki for support. If something happened though, she knew she'd be fighting to get to Thor's side tooth, nail and claw if she had to. She prayed it wouldn't come to that though. She prayed with everything she had that he'd stay safe.

Oh, the science community would laugh at her if they saw her now, she thought bitterly. She didn't care. She really didn't.

She understood why Thor hadn't wanted her to see this. If the thought of him hurt didn't cripple her with fear, the ferocious look in Thor's animalistic eyes did! Watching this would kill her! She was pretty sure she'd have fainted or had a heart attack by the time it was over, her thumping heart already hurting in her chest and they hadn't even landed a blow yet!

"Oh God..." she muttered under her breath, releasing Loki's sleeve and wrapping the arm over her stomach instead. She started to rock back and forth, her eyes locked on the clearing.

There was no doubt Thor looked magnificent - in the most terrifying way possible. Suddenly, there was nothing plainly hot about the bulky muscles in his chest, abs and arms - it was all deadly power and strength. Even Jane could see the feral dangerous look in his eyes, wild and untameable as they bore into his opponent, his teeth bared and gritted. His large hands twitched, braced to do harm.

Jane held her breath.

Then the fight began.

The two hulking bodies clashed with a encouraging yell from the crowd around, and Jane felt a whimper leave her lips. God, that looked like it hurt. Thor's hands grappled Chisten's shoulders as he fought to shrug him off.

Her fingers found Loki's sleeve again shamelessly, eyes peeled open to make sure she didn't miss a second of it. She needed to pay attention. To know where to kiss better when it was over. There was no way Thor could come out of this totally unscathed; and Jane felt like crying for it.

His hands claimed either side of Matt's head and, taking a half step back, brought it down to his knee. Even Jane flinched at the impact. Thor stepped back quickly, leaving the scientist staggering, dazed. Thor closed the gap and threw a punch.

It hit squarely in his enemy's jaw and Jane felt her lip split as she bit down hard. _So far, so good_, she thought, not caring one whit for Matt's pain. Her shoulders were tense and stiff, every nerve on edge as she waited for some crushing blow to draw Thor's blood, to send him spinning back helplessly. If it was coming, she had yet to wait for it.

The shouts from those behind her filled her hearing and Jane hated them for encouraging the fight. How dare they endorse her boyfriend to do this, baying for his blood and Matts! What sort of animals were they?!

Still, Thor was winning, and Jane wasn't about to complain about that. Matt's lip has split and he looked positively murderous as he wiped the blood from his chin with his sleeve. Thor didn't flinch, light on his feet, fists raised and waiting.

Matt strode forward, drawing his fist back for a hit. Thor stepped to the side to avoid it and caught Matt's arm in a firm grip, pulling the scientist forward to introduce his gut to Thor's knee. The wind was knocked well out of Chisten's body, and he dropped down to his knees as Thor released him.

Jane breathed a sigh of relief. Matt had no chance of winning, Jane realised, watching him spit out a mouthful of blood, arms wrapped around his bruised middle. A smile of utter thankfulness washed over her face.

Then Thor made his first mistake; he glanced back. His eyes flickered over his shoulder to Jane.

That one blind spot was all Matt needed.

His leg swept under Thor's from the ground and knocked him clear off his feet, freezing Jane's heart with horror as her man's shoulder hit the ground brutally hard. Her mouth dropped open in an 'o'.

Oh my God, she thought in a panicked rush; that had been her fault. If Thor hadn't let his defences down to check she was okay...

Thor picked himself up slowly, shifting to his knees, head down, hand gripping his shoulder as if it was - Jane gulped - hurt. She swore violently in her head, knowing that she was the sole cause of it. Fear started to rise up within her, especially as Matt rose to his feet, while Thor stayed knelt, catching his breath.

Chisten wasn't in a merciful mood.

"_NO!"_

Jane screamed as Matt's fist hit Thor's cheek, snapping her boyfriend's head to the side harshly. It took all of Loki's energy to hold her back. Jane's hands clawed at his arm around her waist like an animal, her eyes wide and desperate to get to Thor.

She could feel the wetness on her cheeks, but she didn't give a damn as Matt punched Thor's other cheek, a part of her dying inside with every blow. Another hit, and another, and she was limp in Loki's arms, nearly sinking to the floor herself with her overwhelming helplessness. Her lips numbly mumbled pleas but she had no idea who they were for, who was supposed to hear her over the excitedly yelling crowd, rooting for their favourites.

_Get up_, she willed Thor as he stayed knelt, his head bowed low despite how many blows his face took. She had no way to see the look on his face, to know what was going through his mind.

Suddenly she hated Matt Chisten with all her heart; _how _dare _the bastard hit her man!, _she growled viciously in her head, teeth gritting.

Her numbness was wiped away in a heartbeat, her hands clawing at Loki's arm around her waist. She wasn't sure what was stronger; her hate or her fear. She just wanted to get to Thor, to hold him, to pull him away. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He stayed worryingly still as he knelt, but at the same time it reassured Jane. If he was hurt, he'd cry out, right? No such sound left him, head bowed silently low.

"Stop it!" Jane screamed, desperate to gouge some sort of reaction from her boyfriend. Plus, the way Matt loomed over Thor with that dangerous look in his eyes only made her more frantic, more afraid.

Her struggling became manic and she had to give Loki credit for managing to keep her in place, as Thor had ordered. He abandoned Thor's jacket to the grass to do it though, needing two arms. He crushed Jane securely back against him, capturing her clawing hands in his. "Jane," he said in a low, quiet voice in her ear. It was so dripping with seriousness though, it made Jane freeze to listen. "Relax."

That one stupid word sent her mad again. Her eyes narrowed, but she couldn't turn her head enough to aim them at the history student. "Relax?!" She hissed angrily over her shoulder. "How can I relax when Thor's -"

"He's fine, Jane." Loki said calmly.

"Fine?!" She twisted in his arms as much as he'd allow – which really wasn't much – and caught a narrow glimpse of his tense, but expressionless face. "How can you say that?!"

Thor looked far from fine to her! How could on his knees taking punch after punch be fine?! He and Loki were close, weren't they? How could Loki be so passive while this happened to his beloved brother? Jane didn't think the stiffness in his face, the hard edge to his orbs were enough.

Still, Loki kept his composure. "Because I've seen Thor fight before." He said flawlessly, his hard orbs bearing into hers. Once again, Jane stilled to listen. "Look at him."

Jane turned obediently as Loki's eyes flickered up to the invisible arena. Her heart clenched as she took in the all too familiar sight; Matt Chisten rubbed his knuckles into the palm of his hand testingly. Thor hadn't moved.

"He's buying his time." Loki went on quietly in her ear. "He's building himself up. Trust me, he's not hurt. He's just angry. And it won't be long before he lets that anger out. Remember why he's doing this; because Chisten insulted you. I'd bet my life that those words are running through his head right now. Soon, he'll snap." The history drew in a ragged breath. "And God help Chisten when that happens."

_Oh God_…Jane wasn't sure how that all made her feel. She wasn't afraid for Thor now...but maybe she was a bit afraid of Thor instead. The thought of all that deadly power unleashed in a violent burst… yes, she agreed, God help Matt Chisten.

The guy in question drew his fist back, a triumphant smirk on his face. "Go run back to your little whore." He sneered. Jane's heart stilled in her chest as she caught Thor's fist twitch at his side. "The latest in a long line-"

Chisten didn't even finish the sentence before he was thrown aside, Thor's fist rising fast and drawing powerfully across his face. It sent the guy flying. And she swore she heard something crack. Jane held her breath as Thor stood there, his head still down, but an unmistakable darkness lurking about him. God, it was terrifying!

He had his back to her, but she didn't need to see it to know the murderous look in Thor's eyes was there as his head lifted, painfully slowly. Chisten's flinch was unmistakable though.

His scrambled back, his hand on his injured jaw, but Thor wasn't letting him away so easily. He leaned forward and grasped the scientist by the collar, dragging him back. He threw another punch that left Chisten limp enough to be unconscious, but Jane saw the flicker in his eyes as Thor lifted him up. Matt's legs dangled in the air as Thor held him to eye level.

The fear in Chisten's eyes was blatant and the crowd fell dead silent, keen to hear what was going to happen next. Chisten's fight was long over.

Thor glared venomously into Matt Chisten's eyes, holding him up by his collar. His teeth were gritted, and it made Jane flutter inside, knowing how much he must be holding back. The blazing fury in his eyes was simply deadly. "Insult my Jane again, and I will ensure you will regret it." He growled menacingly. The warning seemed to sweep over the crowd, not a single person daring to speak.

The thud made Jane wince as Thor dropped Matt Chisten and he crumpled to the ground with a cry of pain. Thor didn't so much as blink. "Understood?"

Chisten nodded so furiously Jane was sure he'd dislocate his jaw even further, but her concern was quickly knocked out of the park as Thor turned back to her and Loki. The history student's arms fell from around her. She staggered forward numbly while Thor strode with firm purpose, but the intent was the same as Thor closed the gap between them and gathered her up tightly in his arms.

Jane's eyes fluttered shut with relief, feeling the strength that surrounded her comfortingly. She threw her arms around him and hugged him back. Her face buried into his neck as the tears came back, crying silently into him. She was just so glad he was okay.

Thor's lips pressed down on the side of her neck, holding her as she cried. Even though he'd done the fighting, he knew the fight had done more damage to Jane than him. He'd glimpsed her face earlier, so torn with worry for him. He held her strong, as if holding together the pieces of her fragile heart.

"It's alright, Jane." He murmured into her skin. "I'm fine."

Jane choked back her tears as she pulled back, her hands finding his cheeks as examined diligently for herself. Her glistening eyes missed nothing; "No, you're not." She said, thumb stroking softly over the angry red mark on his cheek bone.

Thor's fingers closed around hers and gently tugged them away. "Yes, I am." He insisted.

He fought the urge to just swoop down and kiss her, his body still singing with adrenaline. Besides, he didn't think Jane would appreciate such a public display of affection anyway.

Still, she didn't exactly look at ease now as it was! Thor watched with steadily increasing concern as Jane's head started to shake from side to side, her lips parting as if she wanted to say something, but no words leaving her mouth. Her eyes scoured over his face as if she'd never seen him before. The sports star tightened his arms around her as he felt Jane starting to ease back.

She only stiffened in his hold, her hands moving to brace on his chest. A frown dipped in her brow as her eyes washed warily back to his. "Who _are_ you?" she finally gasped.

Thor's heart was racing in his chest, his mouth quickly running dry. Any pride of victory over the weak Matt Chisten was quickly wiped away, Thor much more preoccupied with making sure his obviously distrusting girlfriend didn't slip away from him. That look in her eyes made him very worried.

He gulped anxiously, painfully aware of her hands pushing slightly on his chest. "Jane, please. I'm sorry."

He wasn't sure what he was apologising for; a part of him was still glad he'd gone for Matt Chisten. Didn't Jane understand how harshly it cut him when people said stuff like that about her? And he knew they said it, but until recently he hadn't a face to confront about it.

It was the flicker of fear in Jane's eyes that frightened him to his very core, though. His arms numbed around her.

Jane back away from him, and Thor did nothing to stop it. "I gave myself to you because I thought you were better than this." Jane said, gaze fringed with hurt and betrayal. "For God's_ sake, _Thor..."

Her head shook for one last time before she turned and stormed away, lost almost instantly in the melt of the slowly retreating crowd. Thor's heart dropped to his stomach as she vanished from sight. What the hell had he done?

"Jane!" His arm reached out as he called for her, his voice cracking weakly. A hand clamped down on his forearm as he took a step forward.

The sport's star flickered his eyes to the side, too scared and regretful to be angry anymore. He met his brother; Loki's eyes were lowered to Thor's shoulder, wearing the same hurt expression Jane's had. "Let her go, Thor." he mumbled. "Let her cool off."

Thor didn't have the will to resist, and his arm fell loosely to his side. Was Loki mad at him too? Loki - but he'd seen Thor fight many a time! Surely he couldn't be...

"You shouldn't have, Thor." Loki proved him wrong quietly. "She wanted you to prove to her that she was more important than revenge."

Thor listened, and realised his brother was exactly right, dread setting in like ice. He staggered back and ran his hands through his hair. _Oh gods_...the depths of his mistake cut him hard as he thought of his upset Jane, praying that the damage he'd inflicted wasn't irreversible.

But that look in Jane's eyes... Thor was scared.

**NOTE**

**Thanks guys! The review were magic :D**

**Right, quick point: I'm a bit stuck. I'm not sure where to take this now. Graduation's coming up and I'm not sre what should happen. My usual reaction - set up a poll. So there you go. There's a poll up for you to decide where the story should go. There'll probably be no more than five chapters left, btw. Do you want Jane and Thor to split up, or split and make up ... there are lots of options on the poll (seriously, no detail is too meticulous) but if there's anything haven't thought of, the review box is looking rather lonely so why don't you tell it your ideas?**

**The poll has both ending ideas and ideas as to how the other ideas could come about, so pick a variety. You have four votes to utilise. Get voting! And it's not that i WANT them to break up. But that's the path I was leaning towards (even breaking up temporarily) purely because in this situation I know that's exactly what I'd do.**

**The end is nigh people... but what end shall it be?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Jane tapped her pencil anxiously against the edge of the table, her chin propped up in her palm as the thought. About Thor. Again.

Beside her, Darcy's head thudded down on the table top. "Oh God, Jane, stop doing that." she moaned dully. Jane blinked back to the cafeteria again and her hand stilled, more out of surprise than anything else. Darcy's glaring eyes lifted up from the table. "If it's bothering you that much just go _talk_ to the guy."

Yeah, talking. That was a good place to start. Only she'd tried that already. "It doesn't work." Jane scowled, letting her hand fall away from underneath her chin. "I don't think he understands."

Darcy's eyes rolled. "He's a man, Jane. Of course he doesn't understand. He thinks with his balls, not with his brain."

Jane arched an eyebrow. "So you're saying Loki's getting his history major next week from using his balls?"

"Er- yes." Darcy affirmed shamelessly. "Seriously, all men are the same. Loki's no exception. Just the other day he told me Hitler only had one ball. See: history and balls. Even the sharpest cookie can relate the most sophisticated topics back to-"

"Whoa," Jane waved off quickly, her cheeks heating slightly. She had a feeling every time she'd see Loki from now on she'd be drawn back to this conversation. "Too much information. I get your point."

"Really?" Darcy cocked her head to the side. "Then what's the solution to your problem? Tell me."

Jane's eyes shifted uncertainly. "Erm... just ask him about it?"

Darcy's eyes fluttered shut in exasperation. "Wrong. So, so wrong." she sighed, eyes opening. "Remember the balls. You don't ask - you demand an answer. And what's more you give him an ultimatum. Answers for sex. Silence, and you won't put out." Darcy shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "Simple."

Jane mirrored her friend and sat back too, her eyes flickering around them warily. "Are we really having this conversation here? In the cafeteria."

It was two in the afternoon and the cafeteria was nearly empty, but it didn't stop Jane fretting. Especially about something so sensitive and someone as desirable as Thor. Still, she had nothing left to distract her from anything else. Her work and Thor's had ended long ago, leaving them all too much free time on their hands. Jane had been rather grateful when Thor and Loki had gone back to England for a few weeks to visit their parents; it gave her the space she needed.

"Do you think we're over?" she suddenly asked quietly, wonderingly. The words made her heart chill, but she felt too numb to fight it. "Me and Thor... I don't know. Maybe I made a mistake, Darce."

"Over one fight?"

It wasn't just the fight. The fight just brought to light all the long standing doubts that had been in her mind beforehand. It reminded her why she'd hesitated in the first place.

Her and Thor were different. He worked out, she studied. He was hot, she was average. He was popular, she wasn't. They may not be earth shattering differences but they were enough to unsettle Jane, especially when her boyfriend in question was good looking and popular enough to have anybody he wanted.

Her original fears were back; was she simply good enough for Thor? What the hell did he see in her?!

But then the fight...

Jane had saw something that scared her rigid. That look that had been in Thor's eyes... so feral and dangerous, like in that moment he didn't recognise anything but bodies to beat up and blood. It terrified her. She'd thought Thor was a sensitive man until she'd seen the mindless monster that lurked beneath.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she fished it out reluctantly. Her face twisted when she saw the message was from Thor.

Darcy straightened upright in her chair instantly. "What?" she barked eagerly. "What does he say?"

Of course, she knew who it was. The look on Jane's face gave it away easily. Jane tapped the screen to open the box and her heart sank as her eyes grazed over the words. A heavy sigh left her lips. "I love you." she breathed, feeling her heart tug. "I hope we're okay. I love you with all my heart, Jane. Thor."

Jane lowered the phone numbly from her line of sight, feeling dead inside. When he said stuff like that, it just made her feel even more pained; Jane didn't know what she felt anymore.

She groaned as she folded her arms on the table and bowed her forehead to meet them. Thor had got back from England a few days ago but Jane hadn't had the guts to face him yet. Her phone was full of messages from Thor that he'd sent while he was away, messages that he loved her, that he was sorry, that he never wanted anything to tear them apart and that they could work through this... only Jane wasn't so sure they could.

Six months of dating... was this the end?, she thought sadly. All good things had to come to an end. Maybe her glimpse of paradise was at an end at last. It couldn't last forever.

"Now's not really a good time."

Jane jerked her head up at Darcy's soft words and knew they weren't directed at her. Her eyes caught the tall figure of the Hitler disgracing figure himself stood beside their table - Loki.

Jane inwardly groaned as he stood there, staring down at her with a sympathetic, pitying look in his eyes. She hated it. Her lips pursed, ready to tell him she was fine and to quit the degarding look he was giving her... then she noticed the box in his hand. Her brow dipped, eyeing it warily. "What's that?"

Loki's eyes flickered down, and Jane's nerves shot on edge at his hesitation. That was never good. If it was innocent, he'd come right out with it. His mouth opened, hovering silently before he revealed the box's identity.

"It's... it's for you." he finally confessed, holding it out gently to Jane. She straightened up off the table completely, but made no move to take it. "It's from Thor."

She swore her heart plummetted to the floor at that. "Oh God." she muttered. Her eyes lingered over the box as if it would reach out and kill her.

"You're not split up yet, Jane." Darcy reminded bluntly over the table. "Avoiding him is hardly going to make things any better."

Jane flushed; was it that obvious she'd been actively avoiding him?

"Thor said you haven't been returning his calls..."

Jane's eyes were glaring as they lifted to Loki, her lips pursed. _Thank you Mr Know It All_, she barked in her head as Loki - wisely - backed a step, looking even a little afraid of the astrophysicist under her stare. It didn't last long. Jane's anger cracked as soon as she stopped and looked at herself; this wasn't the sort of person she was.

Her brow was furrowed in confusion, almost unable to believe what uncertainty had done to her. She didn't usually get so touchy. She didn't normally run away from consequences. Yet here she was avoiding her boyfriend as if he was some mass murderer and giving his brother the dirtiest looks around just for standing there! _What the hell's wrong with me?, _she breathed, horrified in her head.

Maybe a breakup was what was best after all, if this was what relationships did to her. _Then again_, a voice in her head cut in snidely, _breaking up sounds too much like running away_. The cowardly option.

Jane instantly tilted her chin up proudly; she was strong, she was brave. She stood up to things, she didn't run away. By God, it may suck but she always gave it her all.

Leaving Thor might make things simpler... but would it make them better?

She sighed and reached out her fingers. For a second, Loki just stood there, still looking slightly afraid of Jane as she waited for him. His eyes glanced down between the box and her face as he judged whether she was sane enough not to simply destroy it.

Tentatively, he lowered the box to her waiting palm. Whatever it was, it wasn't heavy, but there was something in it alright. It was cute; evidently handmade out of thick card, with a ribbon tying the top lid to the bottom. Jane's heart twanged anxiously; Thor had made this with his own two hands for her. The guilt hit her hard.

Her fingers were almost trembling as the reached for the tail of the ribbon and tugged. It melted away softly from its loose bow, falling down onto the table top with the grace of silk. It only made Jane feel worse.

Suddenly she just wanted him there. Even though she was sure he'd be there with the puppy dog eyes and she feel hurt and scared still inside… she just needed to see him, to know he was still willing to be there for him. What if there was a breakup gift in the box or something? Jane wasn't sure she could deal with that. Not being dumped.

Her eyes flickered up over the box to Loki again, catching his sad gaze with hers. No one was glad to see the couple in danger. "How is he?" she asked softly.

Loki's head shook gently. "Not good." He breathed. "He misses you, Jane. That fight… it's not left his mind since it happened. He regrets it more than anything."

Something inside Jane leapt for joy.

Her attention sank back down to the box, sucking in a breath. He missed her… then he couldn't be breaking up with her. She was still nervous, biting her lip as she moved her fingers to the box's lid.

Her lips ghosted apart as she peeled it away and stared inside. Then her eyes started to water. It was simple, but effective: the cupcake was small, coated in neat, piped icing, a hardened circular disc resting on the top. Chocolate brown icing wrote words on the top, forming Thor's shaky message: _I'm sorry._

Jane felt a lump rise in her throat as she caught sight of the little crinkle of paper behind the cupcake, and she set the box on the table, her fingers prying the small white piece free. She scrambled to unfold her note, suddenly desperate to see his words.

Her heart was thudding in her chest as she roamed over the note, feeling every inch of her aching with loneliness. _Thor_, she gasped in her head, covering her quivering lipped mouth with her hand. _Oh Thor…_Thor's simple handwriting shone out from the paper, and Jane could feel the sincerity behind every syllable: _From now on, the only fighting I'll do is to win your love again, Jane. x_

"He made the cupcake himself." Loki said, though his voice sounded strangely distant as Jane lost herself to her pleasantly dazed thoughts. She could imagine Loki's small, sad smile though as he chuckled: "Took him twelve attempts to get it right."

She smiled through the tears that were quickly on their way. Would Thor ever fail to amaze her? How could she possibly ignore how her heart thundered in her chest, knowing Thor had gone to such painstaking effort just to give her a cupcake...she loved him. How could she not?

The legs of her skidded as she stood up abruptly, her eyes lost in thought. It was her heart that made her push past Loki, running for the cafeteria door.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Darcy yelled after her.

Jane's lips were curved in a grin as she caught herself on the door frame, swinging herself to a halt just long enough to glance back at her bewildered friends over her shoulder, both Loki and Darcy frowning and Jane's sudden burst. Jane grinned on: "To tell Thor that I love him."

Neither of her friends had time to say anything more before Jane threw herself into a run again, her legs carrying her by instinct to where her man would be; she arrived breathlessly outside Thor's apartment. Her fist pounded insistently on the door, and Jane knew she must seem crazy to anyone who happened to be around. She didn't care. She'd be crazy if it meant she could have Thor back again, have him holding her in her strong arms.

It was a long moment, a wait Jane was jumping on the spot impatiently to ease, before the door cracked open. Thor's face crept into view - his eyes widened when he saw Jane outside.

"I want to make cupcakes with you." Jane blurted, as Thor's mouth opened questioningly.

She wasn't sure where the statement came from, but she didn't care, just glad to see Thor's hansom features staring down at her again._ But_... her smile faltered slightly; there was something wrong. Thor didn't grin like she'd expected. He didn't even smile. An anxious look crossed his face, his eyes flickering to the side before they found the floor.

Jane's heart hammered in her chest as the look in his eyes echoed in her head. She didn't like that glistening. What the hell was wrong?! Why wasn't he happy?

Thor spoke to the floor: "Jane, I-"

"Who is it, Thor?"

Jane wasn't sure what happened first; the beat her heart that skipped or the frown that nudged into her brow. Either way, in a millisecond she could feel them both. That voice… that was a _girl's _voice. What was a girl doing inside Thor's apartment? A part of her snapped for being so suspicious, but… the way she said Thor's name… so purring…

Jane suddenly felt very sick. And she started to notice things. The wild tint in Thor's eyes as they lifted sharply up to her again. The light colour on his cheeks. The way his shirt was ruffled slightly up his body, revealing a glimpse of his golden skin beneath.

She drank it all in, a sickening picture forming in her mind. Her eyes trailed back up Thor's body until they found his orbs, shocked to see them glistening, miserable… scared.

He read her mind with that. "Jane."

His voice was warning but he didn't have the strength to bar her as Jane barged past his arm into his apartment. It would only make it worse. But he wasn't sure if that was possible as he turned with her, Jane angrily storming past him.

She didn't take two steps before she froze in her tracks. The owner of the voice was unmistakable, and Jane's eyes widened as she found her – in Thor's bed, his covers pulled up over her chest as her clothes littered the floor. It took everything Jane had not pass out there and then. She… and Thor… what?!

Her breath hitched in her throat and she could feel herself start to tremble. What innocent excuse was there to have a naked girl in your bed? _None,_ a voice in Jane's head answered for her. _Especially when you are disgruntled too._

Jane's eyes lowered numbly from the girl and she could feel Thor step around beside her, though she felt too dead to react. Her head was clouded with thoughts; incriminating thoughts of Thor kissing the mystery woman, of her hands tugging at his shirt and his tearing the clothes off her body… the same way he had done to her. The fighting she might have been able to forgive, but this… she wasn't sure if she could take it.

"Oh my God…" she breathed, horrified. How could he give her that cupcake, all the while he was up here, with_ her_… how could he do that? Jane felt her heart breaking all over again.

"Jane, this is not what it looks like."

His hand touched her shoulder, but Jane flinched away as if he had burned her. She staggered back a few steps, wounded orbs lifting at last to Thor's. They looked just as heartbroken as she felt inside. She didn't care; he'd _cheated_ on her.

"How could you?" she asked, feeling her eyes tear, her voice trembling. Her eyes grazed over the woman in the bed again, her blonde hair, curvy figure... anger filed inside Jane as she found Thor again. "I came here to tell you I loved you and you just..."

Her hands rose to rip through her hair, grasping handfuls as she fought to contain this pain, this rage that was tearing her heart apart. Hot tears touched her cheeks. Her chest ached as she gasped for breath, hardly daring to believe this was really happening. She needed air, she needed Darcy, she needed someone's shoulder to cry on and just stop thinking, to break down... she could feel it wasn't far off.

She turned and ran to the door.

A strong hand caught her wrist as she touched the doorframe, prepared to swing herself round it and get away fast. The hand held her back, and she was forced to turn back to Thor's imploring face. "Jane, let me explain-"

"I can't do this, Thor." she cut him off, feeling her chest cave in with every word she said. God, she couldn't take it. Her eyes bore into Thor's as she wrenched her wrist free and stepped back into the corridor, reading the absolute terror in Thor's orbs. "We're through."

The sports star could only stand and stare, feeling lost and hopeless as Jane ran down the corridor. She was ... gone. He and Jane were over.

**NOTE**

**Sorry guys. This one took a while to write. Had some boy issues myself with my ex breaking my heart all over again, so writing was not the forefront of my priorities, especially these romance ones. Don't worry though, I bounce back fast and am pulling myself together again.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Jane hugged her arms around her as she walked aimlessly down the corridors, feeling empty and hollow inside. She did this lately. Sitting still was just impossible. Especially in her dorm. There were too many memories there of Thor there, too many for her to bear...

Darcy walked beside her, not saying anything for once. She'd tried. There was nothing to say to Jane now. She just didn't want her friend to be alone.

They were both silent as they walked through the near deserted corridors, just lost to their own thoughts.

Jane's eyes were glassy and distant, not even glancing at the faces either side of the corridors as she walked. She didn't care anymore. But then she glanced up and saw a willowy figure that made her freeze in her tracks, the life shooting back into her orbs.

Her hand reached out and tugged Darcy's sleeve before her friend could take another unknowing step. "Can we go back?" Jane breathed, her gaze locked forward on her worst nightmare.

Darcy followed suit - and then Jane was tugging Darcy's sleeve to hold her back instead: the blonde bombshell that had been in Thor's bed was ahead, her back pressed against the wall as a tall hansom figure leaned over her, his fist on the wall beside her head. Thor's expression was thunderous compared to the girl's mischievous smirk, but all Jane saw was them, together.

Her feet staggered her back down the corridor numbly. She didn't want to be here. She really didn't want to see Thor or _her_.

Her fingers refused to let Darcy spring forward in attack. She couldn't do much to restrain her mouth though: "You utter bastard!" Darcy half screamed down the corridor.

Jane's heart stilled in her chest as Thor looked up and down the corridor, as everyone else did. No one else wore the same expression of dire horror that he did though. No one else's face paled quite so dangerously. And as her eyes linked with his for those vital seconds...Jane felt something inside her die.

A part of her wanted to hate Thor for what he did, but she just couldn't. She tried. She knew what had happened was wrong in the highest degree and she had every right to resent him with every fibre of her being. But then when mere thoughts of him reduced her to tears in her apartment, when he clouded her thoughts, when she felt like she couldn't go on feeling as lonely as she did... she knew she still loved him with all the pieces of her heart.

Darcy's arm linked around Jane's shoulders and Jane was too numb to resist as her friend turned her away. She stayed glaring at the sports star over her shoulder; "Man-whore." Darcy sneered back at him.

Jane's thoughts flew back to her room as her legs started to move. She wanted her space. She could feel the tears forming inside her, longing to spill free uncontrollably.

Loud, booted footsteps behind her strengthened her outer shell.

She wouldn't let him see her cry. Not now. After all he'd done... "Jane!" His steps quickened to catch up to her. Jane walked faster, out of Darcy's hold. It was useless though; within a matter of strides he was beside her, his hand instantly flying to cup her shoulder.

Jane flickered her eyes to his and felt her heart bleed with the emotion she saw there. That used to be hers. This caring giant used to be her everything. But she was just what Matt Chisten said she was after all: the next in a long line.

She tried to ignore the warmth of Thor's palm. It only made the pain worse, reminding her just how far she fell when she lost Thor. She didn't want to think of him anymore. It hurt too much.

"Jane," his eyes were glistening with pleading. "Let me explain-"

"I don't want to hear it, Thor." Jane brushed off his hand at last, not breaking her stride as Thor walked sideways to plead with her. She kept her gaze ahead. She couldn't bear to look at him, and she didn't want him to see how broken she was inside. Her voice stayed stronger than her heart felt.

She had to think of the future. Of what she needed, not what she wanted and could never again have. "I'm going to graduate tomorrow and then we're never going to see each other again." she said in a hard cold voice. It was all that kept her together. She was more than glad she kept her eyes forward but there was no way even Thor could miss the pooling tears. She pressed on regardless; she _needed_ this. A clean break. "That's what I want, Thor. I want you to leave me alone."

She should have known Thor wouldn't simply accept it. "You don't mean that." he growled angrily, his features twisting in a snarl.

"I do." Jane sighed, though she felt her control slipping dangerously. She needed to get away before she lost it in front of Thor. "I don't want to see you anymore." Her teeth ground into her lip, trying to cling to her composure.

"No, Jane, I can't let this happen." Thor's hand stiffened on her shoulder and she gasped, grinding to a standstill as a light pain cut through her shoulder. Her hand flew there instantly, but curled into a fist when her fingers brushed Thor's. Her jaw gritted against the torrent of abuse that shot to her tongue, retaining just enough self-control to keep her eyes lowered. "That girl," he rushed on. "She wasn't-"

"Get away from her!"

Fingers closed around Jane's other upper arm, and a hard yank soon confirmed it was Darcy. Thor let her go reluctantly. Jane didn't have the will to fight the momentum as she thudded into Darcy's shoulder lightly, knowing her friend must be shooting daggers at the sports star with her eyes.

Jane's cheeks cringed, fully aware that they had the attention of the entire corridor. She didn't like it. The staring hadn't stopped when she'd gotten together with Thor, only it had been a different type of staring. 'What a weirdo' staring she could deal with. Hating, jealous staring wasn't something she liked. And the more she'd been exposed to the latter the more sensitive to it she'd become. She cursed her weakness; she couldn't even hold her head up because of Thor now.

How much her world had changed, she thought, her eyes rolling back to Thor. Thor had once been a diamond amongst sand but now he was just as dull in Jane's eyes as the rest of them. His blue eyes were glistening and desperate as they tried to catch hers.

Jane raised her hands to cup her face, welcoming the darkness. It was easier when she didn't have to see him. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" She asked, her tone broken. "You're the one who did this and now you..." She ran her hands apart, brushing them over the sides of her face as she drew in a breath. Her eyes blinked back to Thor, calmly looking into his imploring orbs. "I can't do this." she said bluntly, baring her palms.

She wouldn't let him. No. She'd never let herself hurt over a man before, and she wasn't going to let herself down now. She'd not done anything wrong. She'd just let her guard down; she'd forgotten why it had stayed up all these years.

Thor's hands lunged for her shoulders again before she could react and cupped her firm. His eyes dug into hers. "Look, Jane." he said darkly, Jane too busy trying to ignore the thump of her heart to fight him. "That girl meant nothing to me. I don't even know her name._ I did not sleep with her, Jane_. I would never cheat on you."

"And yet you did!" She exclaimed before she could stop herself. "She was in your room and she was... and you were all..." Jane ran her hands through her hair, screwing her eyes shut. "You were talking to her just a minute ago-"

"To tell her to leave us alone, Jane, I swear it." Thor insisted, drawing Jane in closer. His eyes glistened with pleading. "You have to believe me."

"I don't have to believe anything." Jane fired back, finally breaking out of Thor's hold. She staggered clear of him, Darcy instantly linking her arm defensively though hers as Jane's eyes started to blaze. "I trusted you and you cheated on me with some cheerleader!"

"I did not cheat on you!"

Jane screwed her eyes shut again and stepped back to ensure Thor wouldn't take advantage of her blindness. She just needed to think.

It was impossible to focus with Thor's endearing orbs on her, every fibre of her being wanting to surrender to him. She wanted to touch him, to run her hands through his hair, to feel his muscles, for him to hold her and make the whole world go away… only every time she looked at him her heart broke all over again.

"This isn't fair." She whined, embracing the darkness. She could feel her lip itching to quiver and tried to focus on her anger. It was a battle lost, Thor's imploring eyes echoing in her head. "I want to believe you and I can't." She wanted to accept it, to believe he was telling her the truth… but she couldn't ignore what she'd seen. Her naked, Thor ruffled… the evidence was against him. "Why are you doing this to me?!"

It was like Thor's hand was subconsciously drawn to her shoulder, reaching out to comfort her again – before Darcy swotted him away angrily. Jane heard the slap of skin on skin, and knew that was what had happened.

She could envision Darcy's glaring eyes, Thor's pause evidence of his own returning stare. "Because I can't just let you make the worst mistake of your life over nothing."

Jane's eyes snapped open, gaze hard and determined. "The worst mistake of my life was trusting you in the first place."

She instantly found Thor's wounded gaze, looking as broken as if she'd torn his heart from his chest. Oh gods, how she wanted to believe him. She didn't want to see that look. She'd give anything to just forget yesterday and take him in her arms, have him kiss the pain away. But the betrayal lingered in her mind. She couldn't just forget.

Anyone would have thought Jane had hit him or kicked his puppy at the destroyed look he gave her. For all Thor's muscle, bulk and power, Jane had never seen anything so vulnerable.

Thor's head started to shake and this time when he stepped forward, Jane knew that no mere rebuff from Darcy would hold him back. "Please, Jane-"

"No!" she snapped, closing the gap between them and thudding her hands hard into his chest. He staggered back a step, but Jane knew it was more shock than her physical impact that did it. She met his glistening orbs unashamedly with hers and let the first pearly tear roll down her cheek. "I can't do this anymore, Thor." She breathed, feeling the last of her will sigh from her. "I never want to see you again."

Thor couldn't tear his eyes from Jane, even as she took a step back and turned her shoulder away from him. _Walking away_…the words echoed in his mind as Jane did exactly that.

Thor watched her go, as if the pieces of his broken heart had him tethered to the floor. His fingers slowly lifted, reaching out as the last of Jane's dark brown hair whipped round the corner.

His lips parted numbly, and he gave in to the trembles. "I wanted to make cupcakes with you too…"

xxx

He wanted to follow her, to run and grab her and force her to listen to him… but what she'd said just froze him. _Never wanted to see him again_…she couldn't mean that. Could she?

Thor snapped himself to his senses the moment Jane was gone, and ran as fast as his legs would carry him – in the opposite direction. He rushed past the girl who was responsible, not missing her self-satisfied smirk for an instant. He fought the urge to turn and growl at her, knowing there were more important things to tend to.

The minute she was out of sight, she was out of mind, and fear once again took over Thor's system. He couldn't lose Jane. He couldn't. The thought of going back to that hollow, empty, meaningless life before she'd coloured his days was just soul crushing. Thor couldn't imagine his life without Jane in it. Before he'd met Jane he'd been an idiot. Even just that glimpse of her in the cafeteria had made him a better man, just seeing her for the first time…

But Jane wouldn't listen to him.

Thor strode into the library, ignoring the agitated glares he got for his unsubtle, loud entrance. His eyes grazed for the one person that might help him now: Loki.

He found his brother's familiar dark hair bowed over a book at a desk in the far corner of the library, one of the very few people not up and looking at the sports star already. Thor was at his side in seconds. "Loki, I need your help."

For a second, Thor didn't think his brother had heard him. Loki just kept his eyes calmly down on his book, turning a page as if Thor wasn't there. Then Thor heard it: "No." the historian mumbled.

Then the frown nudged into his features. No? As in…no? Thor's lips parted, simply not understanding how that one word was leaving his brother's mouth. They were brothers – why wouldn't Loki help him? Loki had always been willing to tend Thor a hand, even in his and Jane's relationship. He'd held her back at the fight, hadn't he? And he'd delivered the cupcake when Thor didn't have the balls to. And yet here he was… saying no.

"Wha…" Thor struggled to find the words, before he was forced to gulp and try again. "What do you mean no?"

Loki's sigh was crystal clear as he finally closed the pages of his book slowly, and lifted his gaze to Thor. Thor was surprised to find it so hard and blunt. "As in I'm not going to help you, Thor." He said, his face completely blank of emotion. "I don't agree with what you did to Jane. She didn't deserve that."

Thor's heart dropped to the floor in horror…then it all came flooding back in rage. His fists clenched instinctively, matched with his blazing eyes and gritted teeth. "How am I supposed to prove my innocence if no one will listen to me?!"

Loki just blinked. "Perhaps you should have thought of that before you cheated on her." Thor just stood there, looking shocked as Loki slowly rose to his feet, meeting Thor's frowning eyes levelly. "Did you ever think that your actions might actually affect someone other than you?" Loki asked cruelly, arching an eyebrow. "Have you seen what you've done to Jane? And did you know Darcy won't talk to me either? Just because I'm your brother, and because of what you'd done."

Thor listened silently, watching his brother's composure slowly start to slip, hearing the anger start to edge in his voice. A hostility crept into Loki's green orbs and Thor felt guilt grip his heart.

He'd ... he'd done that? Really? His trouble with Jane had brought Loki trouble with Darcy. The sports star lifted a hand to his head, running his fingers through his hair as Loki's words sunk in. He knew he'd messed up Jane, but everyone else... "I... I didn't realise..." He stammered weakly, his heart thud with the weight of what was happening because of him.

No, he corrected. _He hadn't done anything._

Loki picked up his book and closed it, stepping forward, He thudded it hard into his brothers chest, Thor's hand rising to it instinctively. Loki's eyes were just a fraction away from his.

"Mess up your own life, fine." Loki murmured, in a voice so low and serious it was barely audible. Thor heard every word crystal clear. "But don't mess up mine."

Thor was numb, feeling hopelessly weighed down with guilt and the sheer magnitude of what was going out so out of his control. He'd lost Jane, and now... Thor glanced over his shoulder, book still clutched to his chest. Now he'd lost his brother too. Where did that leave him?

_I haven't done anything_, he insisted again in his head. This time his teeth gritted hard _- I have not done anything!_ Sure, he'd made mistakes before, but he would never be so careless with so much at stake. He would never cheat on Jane. He wouldn't... then his heart twanged; his fingers touched his lips. _He hadn't_, he told himself. He hadn't meant to.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Jane's face was buried in her pillow, sprawled out on her bed. She wasn't sure if she had the will to move, even though the sun was long creeping over the horizon. Her graduation gown stayed draped over the back of her desk chair.

She couldn't bring herself to look at it; this was without doubt the worst day of her life. She'd get her degree, but at the same time... she and Thor would part ways. She'd never see him again. She was angry as hell at what he'd done to her, but at the same time... did she really love him still? _Yes_, she thought, a tear slipping into the pillow, _yes she did._

Her phone buzzed on the mattress beside her, and she picked it up with numb fingers, tilting her face to the side, free of the pillow. She angled the screen so she could see it.

A loud groan left her and her heart ached in her chest.

It was Thor. The number was unrecognised - she'd deleted him from her contacts the same day she'd discovered him with that woman, while she'd still had the guts to - but she knew his number just by looking at it.

Her thumb tapped the message open before she could think. Her teeth ground into her lip as soon as she realised what she'd done, eyes scanning over the typed words. She felt like a black hole was killing her heart inside of her: _Jane please just LISTEN TO ME. I did not sleep with her. I love you. I'll never give up. Never._

A quiet whine left her lips and Jane turned her face into the pillow again. She screwed her eyes shut. God, why was he doing this to her?! Didn't he know how much this hurt? She just wanted to forget him and move on, pretend this never happened... if that was even possible. But every time she saw him or thought of him it just ripped her heart open all over again, and she'd be rendered helpless again. It felt like she was having a heart attack. How could she possibly bear this?!

Jane rolled herself off the bed. The only way to get through this was by moving, she reasoned, shifting her weight from one leg to another. Keep busy. Distract. Anything but focusing on the pain.

She gulped down her heartache, finding her strength again. Her heart hardened as she tapped back on her phone's keyboard - _You cheated on me. _Her fingers slowed and he eyes lifted; what more was there to say than that. That was all there was. The end of it. He cheated on her.

She hit the send button, and it was mere seconds before her phone was buzzing with a reply: _She kissed me._

Jane wasn't prepared for the hurt that mere sentence would hit her with, her heart clenching so hard her hand flew to her shoulder as if she could stop it. The breath rasped from her.

So he had cheated on her. He'd kissed her. Jane felt positively sick, imagining Thor's lips moving against that woman's, his hands pulling her in for more... that was how Thor always kissed her. The thought that he'd done that with another. Her fantasies only told her so much, but in those, his face was relaxed and guiltless, primal lust driving him to kiss this woman that was not his girlfriend.

Her hand reached for the side of the desk to steady herself as the world started to spin. She knew there was more to the message, but Jane wasn't sure if she wanted to read it. What more could there be to say. Thor had confessed it; he'd kissed another woman.

Regardless, her eyes flickered down, more out of dizziness than anything, and glimpsed the words on the screen, piecing the rest of it together. She lowered herself down to her knees just in case.

_I did not kiss her back, Jane, I swear! When you walked in, she was trying to seduce me, but I refused. I told her I loved you. I do love you! Can we please just talk?_

Jane felt the familiar tug of empathy wind round her heart... but she knew she couldn't surrender to it. Thor had cheated on her pure and simple. Whether he kissed her back or not, it didn't sound like he'd done much to stop it. Nor had it looked like it either that day. He hadn't loved her enough to make a stand. He'd let it happen, let him betray her when she trusted him completely.

Instinct guided her finger to the call button, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She couldn't do this by text and if he wanted to talk...

"Jane." Thor said down the line as soon as he picked up. Evidently, he hadn't deleted her number. His voice was rushed and desperate as if he thought she was going to hang up any minute. Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. Jane wanted this over quickly.

She drew her knees up to her chest and leaned her back against the desk. "What do you want Thor?"

"I want you to understand." His frantic voice rushed down the phone. God, he sounded so desperate, Jane thought, not entirely sure how she felt about that. More endearing or just pitiful? She wasn't sure. "Honestly, Jane, I didn't mean for anything to happen." she could practically see his face through the phone, his bright blue eyes wide, glistening and pleading. Then he let out a shaky breath through the line, as if sensing that panicking as he was going to get him nowhere. "Can you just ...give me another chance."

It was more of a statement than a question, but Jane could still hear the fragility behind it. She wasn't sure if Thor would be able to shake that vulnerability with her gone or not.

Give him another chance... if only it was that simple. Jane sucked in a deep breath, listening to her heart thud. "No." she finally breathed. "I trusted you and you just..." The back of her head thudded lightly against the wood of the desk as she trailed off, and she screwed her eyes shut. "Whether you slept with her or not, it's still not okay, Thor. I can't just get over this."

"What can I do?" He sprung back instantly, his voice suddenly steadied by a new strength. As if Jane gave him a new sense of purpose. Jane's heart ached when she realised that was exactly what it was.

Her hand rose to her forehead and brushed the strands out of her eyes as she sighed. "It's ... there's nothing you can do."

A part of her suddenly realised this was probably the calmest words she'd had with him since their breakup. Her heart had lost its anger. Now there was just a gapping void, still fringed with Thor's love. Numbness commanded her now.

Jane's hand ran down over the side of her face. "Look, Thor." she sighed, keeping her eyes fluttered shut. It helped keep her mind clear and calm. "Can't you just leave me alone? It's done already, and ...and it's graduation, Thor. Can't we just accept we made a mistake and move on? If you loved me as much as you say then you wouldn't have done what you did."

"No." Thor denied instantly, almost growling. Jane could imagine the snarling look on his face, his fist clenching at her accusation. "You could never be a mistake to me, Jane. What can I do to prove it to you? I'd do anything."

Jane couldn't hold back the groan, her head dipping forward. When would he understand? She simply couldn't bear it.

She had her last card, one she hadn't wanted to use. But she knew Thor could - and would! - walk to the ends of the Earth to change her mind about him. But she wasn't sure how much longer Jane could take her heart aching like this. After today, she'd never have to think of Thor ever again, never have to see his face and be reminded of the hurt. But Thor didn't understand that. He needed to let her go.

"I'm not enough for you!" she blurted, her fingers expressing her frustration. "I knew it when I first saw you, I knew it when you asked me to be your girlfriend, and I know it now. If I was enough then you wouldn't have..." Jane had to gulp, finding it harder than she thought to say the words out loud. "You wouldn't have kissed that girl."

The silence spoke for him. Jane could hear his heavy, ragged breath over the line and knew that he was trying to think of something to say back, to claim she was wrong. It broke her heart to know that he even had to think that long about it.

_Darcy had been right_, she realised with a sinking heart. He was too much for her and she was not enough for him. She should have known by his reputation. Before that party she'd known him as the guy who could have any girl he wanted, a new figure in his bed every night. Just her would never have satisfied him. She should have known...

"We had a deal." she finally said quietly, taking advantage of the silence through the line. She heard Thor's breath freeze entirely at her words. _No going back now, _she thought screwing her eyes tightly shut_: _"When you first asked me to be your girlfriend, we had a deal."

She knew Thor knew what she was talking about. And she could imagine his face paling in horror. "No, Jane, you can't-"

"You said," she went on, fighting to keep her voice level as she cut him off. "You said if it didn't work out then you'd leave me alone." Jane's hand ran around to rub harshly over her eyes. She couldn't believe she was crying now, of all times. Now, when she was telling him to leave her be. "Forget it ever happened, you said."

Jane tore herself from under the desk, feeling the need to move as the emotion swelled in her heart. She knew Thor could probably hear her as she sniffled, but it didn't seem to matter anymore.

"You promised me." she whined, throwing her arm over her face to try and hold herself together. Her face crumpled along with her heart. "You said so yourself."

"But this isn't us not working out! This is a mistake-"

Jane jumped as the bell of her apartment rang, shrill and crisp through her room. Her arm dropped from her face as she span around, her hair whipping and stinging her face. For a moment she just stared, her eyes round and startled. Thor was quiet on the other end too. He must have heard the doorbell too.

Blinking herself back to her senses, Jane pressed the phone between her ear and shoulder, balancing it as she unhooked her graduation gown from the back of her desk chair. She was slipping it onto her arms as she crossed the room to her door. It was probably Darcy. Or Professor Selvig. Someone inevitably wondering where she was. The graduation ceremony was this afternoon and Jane wasn't even out of her room, not getting ready, not on the green mingling like everybody else.

Well, everybody else but Thor. Then Jane hesitated a second before she touched the door, the phone slipping back into her hand. A wary look flashed in her eyes as she held the phone to her mouth, eyeing the door distrustingly. "Where are you?" she finally asked.

She could hear the unease in Thor's voice. "In my room." he eventually answered. "My parents are waiting for me on the green."

"So it's not you..." Jane murmured, letting her body slump. She let herself creep closer to the door, lifting up on her toes to see through the peep hole. She wasn't sure why she was so cautious. Perhaps the heart stopping moment she'd thought Thor might have cornered her had struck a chord. One eye screwed shut as the other peered through the peep hole. She could hardly believe what her eyes were seeing: "It's Matt." she breathed, hand bracing against the door frame.

The frown dipped in her brow as she studied the scientist on the other side of the door. The scientist that had called her a whore. "What does he want?" she murmured, half forgetting Thor was just down the other end of the phone line.

The hostility in Thor's voice was unmistakable. "Don't let him in, Jane." Thor warned in a dark, growling voice. "He's just taking advantage of my absence."

Jane's eyes narrowed, leaning herself back from the door. "Maybe I will." she snapped back at her ex. Her hand moved to the door handle as if in defiance. "You don't dictate my life."

"Jane."

It was a warning. One she wouldn't have bypassed for the world a week ago. Now, though... _he'd ruined us_, Jane reasoned in her head. Thor had given up his say in her life the day he kissed that girl. Still, she couldn't deny the adrenaline that curled in her stomach at the thought of Thor jealous.

Her hand clenched on the phone. "Maybe you'll understand how it feels if I do." she breathed, flexing her fingers on the door handle. She was going to do this, she told herself. She gulped, forcing herself to focus on her irritation at Thor. Her eyes narrowed afresh, her heart hardening so much it hurt. Matt Chisten's smug face swam in her head, knowing that that was what she was letting herself in for.

A part of her thought she was crazy. Switching from Thor to _Matt_? There was no contest, even if Thor had cheated on her. But that was the only thing. Jane couldn't even think about Thor anymore, not in the way she used to.

Matt may have called her one of Thor's whores... but really, had he been wrong? Jane's mind was quickly made up once and for all, Thor's urgent protests down the line only spurring her on. He couldn't tell her what to do. Not anymore. Jane wasn't usually one for revenge, but maybe Thor deserved it. Maybe he deserved to know how much he hurt her.

Jane cut the sports star off with two crisp words; "Goodbye Thor."

Her thumb hung up before Thor could so much draw breath to protest, her other hand smoothly swinging the door to her apartment wide open. She sucked in a breath.

It was strange seeing Matt so... arrogant. All the times Jane had seen him since the fight, he'd been black eyed, glaring, pure venomous hatred towards Thor. Now here he was, smiling brightly at her doorstep, now that Thor was gone. His loose brown hair hung into his eyes, confident beam stretched wide on his face. His hand leaned against the doorframe coolly.

Jane just folded her arms and downcast her eyes. This was still the guy who'd insulted her, even though he'd been right... "What do you want, Matt?" she barked, flicking her gaze up hostilely.

The scientist stayed unfazed, though his arm dropped back to his side and he straightened up. He cleared his throat. "I thought you could do with an escort down to the field." he said smoothly, tucking his hands behind his back. "I'd assumed you'd have gone with Darcy, but when I saw her there and you were nowhere in sight..."

Jane's eyes narrowed slightly instinctively. "I'm fine thanks. I'll go later."

"With who though?" Matt took a tiny step forward to block the door as Jane tried to close it on him. "You can't go to graduation on your own, and who else is there now? Huh?"

_Oh yes_, Jane hated him. The pang of pain shot though her and she hauled in a ragged breath out of instinct, the swelling of her chest easing the ache. But it betrayed her to Matt. His grin widened as he knew he'd nudged something vital, Jane's eyes glazing over for a minute as she spaced out.

Her head filled with Thor. Thor, Thor, Thor. At least Darcy was kind enough to avoid bringing such memories back. Matt, however, wasn't so chivalrous.

He took another step forward, and Jane's orbs snapped back to life, softer and wounded with memory. She was still breathing slightly ragged when Matt cupped her shoulders.

Her heart thudded at the light embrace - that was what Thor used to do. It was so cruel, as if she could lean forward and feel Thor's warmth before they'd fallen apart. Only she couldn't, because it wasn't Thor there. It wasn't those familiar strong hands holding her, keeping her safe. She'd never feel them again...

"Look, what he did to you was wrong, Jane." Matt said in a gentle voice, watching Jane's eyes widen a fraction. "And he shouldn't have hurt you the way he did."

_Oh no_, Jane thought with a inward breath. Her heart was aching for comfort... and Matt was giving it to her. Her mouth opened, knowing she should say some sort of harsh remark to throw him away, to make him leave... but all that left her was a squeak. "You were right." she finally spluttered, her eyes lowering to the floor in shame. Or maybe to hide the shock in her orbs that she was actually accepting Matt Chisten's help. "What you said about me... you were right."

And then the arms were around her entirely, hugging her tight. Warm breath tickled her ear, chest swelled with breath against hers... her arms wound round Matt's back and hugged him hard. He wasn't as broad as Thor, but it still didn't take much imagination with Jane's eyes screwed shut that it could be him. It was nice to be held again.

Then she remembered - Thor knew Matt was here. Her blood turned to ice. For all the time she spent dreaming of Thor, he wasn't the person that existed now. And that person was now inevitably tearing down the corridors on his way to beat Matt back and away from her door as they spoke. He knew Matt was here, and he hated him.

Jane pulled back from the hug, and surprised herself when a rogue thought admired the glitter in Matt's eyes. "Let's go." she breathed. When had her voice gone so wispy?

Matt merely smiled, ignorant to the torrent of confusing thoughts whirling through Jane's head. His arm linked through hers and Jane offered no resistance as he eased her forward and out of her apartment, letting her hand tug the door shut behind her. The click was soft, and her heart skipped beat with it.

Her mind was a daze as Matt led her down the corridor, one string of thought dominating her mind - however much Jane supposedly loved or hated Thor for what he did, a part of her panged inside; she'd just delivered a crushing blow to him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"I'm so proud of you two." Thor and Loki's mother fussed, diligently brushing down the shoulder of Thor's black graduation gown, trimmed with red. Meanwhile, their greying, bearded father held Loki at arm's length, surveying his youngest proudly. "You've done so much."

The smile that graced their parents' faces was simply heart-warming... but it didn't extend to the two sons. Loki's smile was stiff and forced as he met Thor's eye over their mother's head. Thor didn't even bother trying to fix his grim, miserable attitude. Thor understood why his brother was treating him with such contempt; Darcy had broken up with him this morning. And Thor knew it was his fault. He took every ounce of pain he felt knowing he'd broken his brother's heart, and knew it still wasn't enough.

Thor's fingers lifted and gently caught his mothers, easing them down from his shoulder. "I think I'll go get some water." He mumbled, averting his eyes.

He knew his parents weren't stupid, as he turned and walked to the water table. They knew something was up. And more than likely they'd know it was to do with Jane.

He wished he hadn't told his parents about Jane now. They'd asked him a bounty of questions when they'd been in England. The simple 'what does she look like?', 'Is she pretty?' questions were easy to satisfy. A show of happy photographs of them together had sorted that. But then there were the more difficult questions; when could they meet her.

Thor ran the cool water down his throat, his mind lulling over it. He hadn't told his parents he and Jane had broken up. Jane was just always 'conveniently busy' as far as they knew. When she'd just been avoiding him that had been easy enough but now...

"What happened, Thor?"

His thoughts were broken by his father's soft voice behind him, and he turned - only to be caught by his father's firm hand on his shoulder. The water cup fell to the grass.

Thor met his father's wise eye and tried not to act too startled. He gulped down his surprise quickly, forcing his eyes to stop their widening. "I..." his voice stammered, mind panicking. When had his father snuck up on his like that? "I don't know what you're talking about."

Odin's lips stretched in a small, knowing smile, his arm snaking around his son's shoulders. "Please, Thor." he said in a low voice. "I think I know you better than that."

Thor held his breath, just linking his eyes with his father. His lips parted ready to deny instinctively, to say that he was fine... but one look at his father's knowing eyes told him it would be a useless feat. His father wasn't an idiot. Thor watched a light sparkle blossom in his father's eye and a kindly smile form on his face. "You may be able to fool your mother," he said lightly. "But you can't fool me. Something's not right, Thor."

He should have known better - his father had always been able to read him like a book. Thor's shoulders slumped and he let the sigh leave him. There was no point in lying.

"I made a mistake, Father." The sports star sighed, his eyes falling miserably to the grassy ground beneath his feet. "And now everyone else is paying for it."

"Your brother?" Odin pressed gently. "I saw his face. There is something on his mind as well."

Thor drew in a ragged breath. "He is one." he confessed, his heart clenching in his chest. His thoughts swam to the woman that had haunted his guilty minds endlessly. "Jane is another." And just by saying it, it broke his heart all over again, and he screwed his eyes shut, running a hand over his face. "I called her this morning ... she said there's nothing I can do." When his eyes opened again, they were dull. "She never wants to see me again."

For a moment, Thor was sure it didn't matter what his father said - what could possibly make this any better? Jane was gone... and worse, she was with Matt Chisten.

His eyes flickered warily around them, conscious that they were surrounded by the scores of graduates and their parents and teachers and... Thor's head lifted fully as soft brown hair flashed in the sunlight, spotting a graduation gown around an unmistakably slim figure. The world seemed to stop, to fall away as he looked ahead to where the stands were.

She looked so beautiful. The red fringing on the gown brought out her soft features effortlessly, her figure looking so slender and graceful. Her face looked anxious and drawn and Thor knew it was his fault. She looked sad and tired; his fault. Always his fault.

Then she looked right back. Her soft brown eyes widened as the linked with his across the field, and Thor could read every panic there. Thor's heart clenched in his chest. He wanted to hug it away, to hold her and make her feel safe again.

Only Matt Chisten as doing that instead.

"Why does she do this to me?" he breathed, not sure if he was talking to himself or his father. As the crowd whisked Jane away and out of sight, it didn't seem to matter. "No matter what I do, she just won't listen. I don't know what to do without her..."

Out of the corner of Thor's eye he caught his father shrug, Odin's head turned to where Thor had been looking minutes ago. "Then make her listen."

Thor just sighed. "I tried already-"

"No, Thor." Thor glanced back to his father, curious frown digging into his brow as he listen to what Odin said. "_Make_ her listen."

For a second, Thor just stared at his father. Surely he couldn't mean... to _force_ Jane, could he? The thought was banished as a sparkle twinkled in his father's eye, a light smile pricking his lips. "You think your mother accepted when I first asked her to marry me? Gods, no!" Odin slung an arm around his son's shoulders and eased him in closer, as if they were conspiring mischeviously against the rest of the world. "But what I did was I asked her again, and again. And she still said no. But then I asked her at her twenty first birthday party. It was massive! Her whole family was there, all watching as I got down on one knee and proposed for the hundred and tenth time. And in front of all those people she couldn't just ignore me like she had before."

Odin paused for a minute, his eyes drilling softly into Thor's. His son just stared back, piecing it together in his mind, his brow staying dipped. "Do you see what I'm saying, Thor?" his father eventually asked. "On her own, there's nothing to stop her. With an audience..."

"She'll listen." Thor finally clicked, brow smoothing with enightened understanding._ Or have you thrown out by security, _a snide voice suggested in his head.

Thor waved it away instantly, his eyes still glowing with the idea. Jane still cared for him - it was her pride that kept her running, too afraid of getting hurt to give him a chance. But if Thor had a big enough audience... Jane was shy. He knew that. When he had first met her, he'd adored her for it! He could just imagine her in front of a crowd like the one that surrounded them now, his eyes scouring around. Scarlet cheeks, fumbling for words. She wouldn't shout. She wouldn't cry. And Thor would have a chance to plead his case.

At least, that was the theory. That was the inspired thought that coursed through his head, the hopeful smile pricking at the corners of his mouth. All might not be lost after all...

After today, Jane had been right; they'd go their seperate ways. It would be more than likely that they'd never see each other again. And Jane would never give him the time of day to apologise after this, that was for sure. Today was his last chance. His make or break. He could win Jane back, or lose her forever.

_The former_, he assured in his head, straightening up as Jane filled his thoughts. He'd done a lot of things wrong in his life, and to Jane, but now he was going to set everything right. He knew what he wanted: he wanted Jane at his side, and he didn't ever want to let her go. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing Jane in the arms of another. Just thinking of her with Matt Chisten made him want to go and beat the scientist again.

But, no, that would only ruin his chances again. He had to show Jane he listened, he understood - that he _cared_ enough to change.

"Do something memorable." Odin continued to advise, beside his quickly thinking son. "Something special to the two of you, something meaningful. Something she won't forget. That could make all the difference."

Something special to them... there were so many moments Thor could think of. Unfortunately for him, not all of them were appropriate. He couldn't play 'My First Kiss' and share drunken embrace with her as he had when they'd first met. Romantic and true perhaps, but not appropriate in front of Jane's professors and the parents and their potential employers. Nor could he strip to the waist and work out for her like the day she'd first come to his room.

He ran through every thought in his head in a heartbeat, picking and selecting moments that struck him as tender. He wanted for Jane to know exactly what he loved about her, about them. What could he say? What could he do?

And then it hit him.

Thor only had time to suck in a quick breath before he was off running, heading straight for the car park. He felt the familiar weight of his car keys in his pocket, and thanks the gods for whatever had possessed him to slip them in his jeans that morning.

"W-where are you going?" Odin called after him, clearing not expecting his eldest son to just bolt off as he had.

_Definitely not expected_, Thor thought with a grin as he turned on the spot, and caught his father's stunned expression. Thor would be forever grateful to his father if this worked, if this idea saved him and Jane... "I'm going to do the right thing." Thor answered, before he turned and disappeared through the crowd on his mission.

xxx

Jane didn't know where Thor had gone, but she hadn't seen him since that glimpse by the stage. Once was enough. She hadn't even been prepared for that. His face swam in her thoughts, trying to dislodge the anxiety that clung to the back of her mind.

Everyone was here. Literally, everyone. The stage housed the university seniors, while the vast rows of chairs were filled with soon to be graduates, the rows behind them stacked with proud parents. Jane didn't have any of them. She just had her, her professor, and Darcy. And even Darcy was far away from her, sat a good few rows behind.

The microphone carried the principal's voice far across the field as he reads out the names of students, their degree in his hand. Then one handshake, a smile, some kind, promising words if they'd been a promising student and life moved on.

Jane was vaguely aware her row was growing thin on the edges, knowing her turn was soon to be sure. She half didn't want to go up now. In the crowd she was invisible - Thor couldn't see her. But the line of students down the side of her were slowly rising, traling to the stage to be awarded their degree. Without Darcy - or Matt even! - Jane felt strangely vulnerable as she stood up.

She kept her eyes downcast, just in case, as she shuffled down line, glancing up every now and then to make sure she didn't trip or bump into something. She wasn't ashamed... she just knew that one glimpse of _him_ would probably ruin her.

_A clean break, _she told herself as she walked down the grass, the stage looming closer and closer ahead of the students walking steadily in front of her. She tried to push back the wetness in her eyes. Once today was over she could cry all she liked and it wouldn't matter, because no matter how much she cared, she and Thor would be over for good. It was a good thing, she tried to convince herself.

She knew it was a lie the minute she stepped up the stage, feeling every eye in the field turn to her. Her shoulder's hunched instinctively, but she walked on, knowing the principal was waiting for her with her degree in hand.

She waddled forward fast; she wanted to get this over with. Her hand slid into the principal's and around her qualification, shaking briskly to move on... but he didn't let go as she'd expected.

Her heart stopped as her hand stayed captured locking her in place, and the backdrop projected on the erect canvas behind them changed. Her eyes turned to it instinctively, desperate for anything to distract her from the masses of people all staring at her - she wasn't eased one bit when her name gleamed out from the canvas, bold and bright for everyone to see.

She could feel her face was white with horror as she turned back to the crowd, catching the principal's proud smile as she did so. He kept her hand solidly in his, as if sensing she'd run off as soon as she was given the chance.

"Once in a generation there's a student that shines beyond her class, and beyond her subject, and is acclaimed right across her department. This generation, that person is Jane Foster, ladies and gentleman."

_Oh God_, Jane felt frozen with absolute dread as the principal rang the words out through the crowd, hearing her name echo back at her tauntingly. Was this really happening? From this view, she could see everything; Professor Selvig's stern face, Loki's dull one- she could even make out Thor's parents, catching sight of the man Thor had been talking earnestly to earlier, guessing he was Thor's father... but where was Thor? Her eyes scanned the crowd below, but no sharp electric blue eyes stared back. Odd; she would have thought off all the gazes she might meet, his would be the first.

The point was though, if she could see all those people, all those people could see her in turn. She glimpsed over Darcy's face and saw it held the same utter dread as she felt inside.

"And this is the man responsible."

The applause sounded hollow in Jane's ears and Selvig rose from the front row of professors, his hard face breaking in a modest smile for the crowd. Jane's eyes met his for barely a second as he rose up the stairs to the podium on the stage, a darkness flashing in his orbs. Her gaze shot back to the wooden floor of the stage; she'd never quite forgiven the professor for wanting her to break up with Thor, and vice versa.

"Thank you." Selvig waved, quieting the crowd. "But all the appreciation goes to Jane." Another brief wave of applause that Jane felt too sick to look up to see. "She's the one that put in all the work. A truly dedicated student."

Jane felt like she would give anything to just die, right there and then and save herself the trauma of going on. She just wanted to get her degree and go. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently so.

She fought to keep her mouth from gaping as the mortifying prospect that they might expect a speech dawned on her. Her eyes glazed to the world around her for a minute.

She didn't notice the flicker as the light changed behind her, the way the muttering spread amongst the crowd. It took her a moment; only the way Selvig paused in his speakings caught her attention. Her eyes lifted, just in time to see Selvig slowly turn around to the backdrop screen behind them.

Jane turned too ... and her jaw dropped. "Oh my..."

Where once had been the university logo projected onto the screen, now read in elaborate curled writing 'I love you, Jane. Please forgive me.'. Jane's eyes scoured over it over and over again, hardly daring to beilieve it was really there. That message... it could only be from one person.

"Jane!"

She spun around, just in time to see Thor's muscular figure racing down the aisle towards the stage as if his life depended on it, tearing his graduation gown over his head as he went.

Her wide disbelieving eyes locked with his frantic ones, his face looking like one of absolute anxiety. But there was a calmness in his orbs, something that reassured her frantic heart as he slowed his pace. But the fact that he was there at all did nothing to ease her - God knew how many people were watching him now walk down the aisle, his gaze fixed focusedly on her. Her heart dropped into her stomach.

She wasn't sure if she was relieved or more mortified when Thor finally drew to a stop. His orbs burned with a fierce determination - oh, it was so hot! Jane's heart ached in her chest and her thoughts instantly flittered back to Matt Chisten. She'd traded this _god _for _that? _What had been going through her mind?!

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" Selvig's voice was cold and deadly beside her, and Jane felt herself stiffen as if it was directed at her.

Thor, however, remained unfazed, his eyes not leaving her. "I need to speak to Jane."

This was it, Jane thought with numbness, he must have finally lost it. What the hell did he think he was doing?! The middle of graduation, changing the backdrop, making a scene infront of _everyone_...

"Have you lost your mind?" she finally hissed down to him, anger blazing in her orbs. He was humiliating her in front of everyone. Her teachers, her friends... her future employers! A part of her wanted to be touched at the gesture - but the blushing shame that crept on her cheeks was supreme. Her eyes flickered frantically back to the backdrop behind her, declaring Thor's feelings for her for all to see.

"No." Thor finally breathed. "I found it. Finally." And then he did the worst thing Jane could have imagined - slowly, his knee bent. He stretched his arms wide to the side as Jane's jaw dropped. "Jane Foster," he boomed for all to hear, "I'm sorry! I screwed up bad, but you have to know that I'd rather spend my whole life begging your forgiveness than trying to move on. I can't."

Jane wanted to run. She couldn't believe she was hearing this. It wasn't the words themselves - just where they were being presented, and in front of whom! There was no hiding.

She forced her eyes to focus on Thor and the frown crept into her brow as the light broke into his orbs and his eyes flickered in the corners. "You're the first woman I ever loved, Jane." he gasped, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself. "The only woman... even if you chose to hate me and never want to see me again, I know I'll never stop caring about you. You're my everything, Jane."

_Oh my God_, Jane cursed numbly in her head. And again. And again. It was like it was on repeat, that single mortified expression. Jane could feel thousands of curious, inquisitive eyes watching her. Some were soft and sweet, some were avid as if watching a thriller film, and others were just like Jane was - stunned.

Professor Selvig soon saw to snapping her out of that: "If you don't leave now, I'm going to call security-"

"No!" Jane's hand flew out to her side of her own accord, and even she was surprised by the command in her voice. She didn't care, feeling every speck of attention to be had on the field snap to her in an instant. Including Thor's hopeful gaze and Selvigs dark one. "Let him speak."

The smile that washed over Thor's face was simply beautiful, and despite everything Jane felt her lips prick in reply. She was sure she didn't imagine some of those 'aww's' that lifted from the audience.

But when Thor's hand reached down to the front pocket of his jeans and hovered over a firm, square shaped bulge there, her heart clenched all over again. "I made a mistake." he went on in a more solemn voice, his expression softening to match it. "But I've paid the price. This last week has taught me one thing Jane - I can't live without you."

Jane tried to ginore the way her heart did little summersaults at the was his eyes lit up at the last sentence, as if his very soul was firing up to hammer home the sincerity. And Jane surprised herself when she felt herself believing him. Mistake... she only just had the brain power beyond her thudding heartbeat to remember what the hell he was talking about. Even then it didn't matter. Like the love in his orbs was cushioning away the hurt somehow. Like she understood, and didn't care anymore.

She drew in a shaky breath. _What was this?, _her eyes flickered, trying to make sense of her own emotions. It was all quickly driven from her head again as Thor's voice broke her thoughts.

"I'm not saying that what I did deserves your forgiveness." he went on, voice as soft as butter. Jane fought to urge to just leap from the stage and gather him up in her arms, especially at the gleaming, endearing look in his eyes. "But what I do ask," Jane's heart fluttered as Thor's fingers moved, and smoothly slid the object out of his pocket. Jane's eyes were drawn to the little black box in Thor's impossibly large hand. "Is that if I do one day earn it,"

Her head started to shake at the same time her hands rose to cover her mouth. That couldn't be what she thought it was, could it? No.. Thor was brash, but this?! Surely, she must be wrong...but the gleam in Thor's eyes - and were her eyes decieving her or was there a glint of moisture in his? - told her she wasn't.

His lips flickered in a hopeful smile, and she swore she didn't imagine the emotional crack in his voice: "Is that you'll agree to marry me, Jane Foster."

The flutter of excitement that ran through Jane's system ran through the crowd too, and for a moment Jane wished she was part of it. She imagined how great it would be, how sweet to watch someone propose at graduation... but it was her, and she was just shell shocked! She wanted to throw herself at him - but _so many people_!

The breath gasped from her lungs as Jane hid her smile behind her fingers. He ...he wanted to marry her. He really did care.

Thor watched Jane's eyes glisten with building tears, feeling his anxieties grow with each passing second. Were they good tears or bad tears? Jane was the one reaction who Thor struggled to read. The excited giggles and more adoring cooing told him of the crowd's approval, and Selvig's stony face sure made his opinon clear. Thor could definitely imagine his families reaction: Frigga would be clashed with amazement and happiness, whereas Odin and Loki would have their jaws hanging open in pure shock. Especially Odin...

But Jane... what was she thinking behind those tearing orbs? Every growing second of silence just made his heart beat all the faster with nerves. What would she say?

"Suck on this, dickhead!"

Thor didn't even have time to spin around as Darcy's voice hit his ears. The furthest he got was his knees rising from the ground instinctively to turn, his eyes lifting a fraction, catching Jane's rise and widen at what she saw behind him.

Then something thudded into his back, and he put the pieces together. It took barely a second; his body tingled with current, the electricity thundered through his system. He was frozen in place as his body convulsed helplessly, feeling the strength leave his muscles and limbs. His fingers expressed, his eyes rolling back in his head at the sharp sensations burning his every cell.

Vaguely, he was aware of himself falling apart. Small things through the darkness flashing in his eyes told him so. His knees meeting the ground, the world spinning...his teeth rattled together, a shuddering groan leaving him as his back hit the grass with a dull thud.

* * *

**Note**

**There, two chapters in one sitting. Call it my Christmas gift to you guys. x**

**Merry Christmas!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

When Thor came round the world was white. Then the patches slowly began to fill in. The frown dipped in his brow as he felt the mattress beneath him, by no means comfortable, but a great deal softer than the hard ground he last remembered. His eyes drank in the plain ceiling and dangling light bulb above him.

Next came the waves of soft brown hair to his left, becoming aware of the slight weight on the side of the bed. With his vision still dotted, Thor shifted where he lay - and stopped almost instantly.

A hard groan left him as he felt how heavy his body was, his muscles stiff and pained. His eyes shot wide open at the unexpected stinging.

The figure beside him jumped at the sudden movement and noise, and Jane's hair whooshed as it swung round her head, snapping to look over her shoulder. Thor's clumsy hand caught her wrist just before she rose off the bed.

"No..." he groaned, still feeling barely conscious. "Don't."

The frown dug into his brow as he tried to focus his eyes, but they wouldn't stop swaying and he had a feeling he looked more retarded than sincere. Still, it hardly seemed to matter, strength enough in his hand to keep Jane where she was.

He tried to move - and instantly regretted it as his shoulders burned. He winced before he could help it, giving an unmanly yelp in surprise.

"Stay still." Jane's soft voice washed in his ear. His screwed up eyes snapped open as he felt a softness brush the back of his hand, clasped to his shoulder, a gentle hand on his other one, easing him down. He swore his heart stopped as he stared up into Jane's soft brown orbs.

For a second they both froze, and Thor became more than aware of how close they were. Her lips were barely apart from his as she leaned over him, and Thor relaxed back onto the bed more out of an experiment to see if she'd follow than anything else. Her eyes never left his, framed with round surprise and anxiety for a moment. Then they softened and a bright sparkle glittered, lifting her mouth in the corners with it.

"Darcy tasered you." she explained bluntly, grin bearing wide. "She came in at the wrong time. Caught the last part, but not the humbling apology that softened it up beforehand." Her shoulders bobbed lightly in a shrug. "She still says she's not sorry, though."

_Darcy... _that woman was the bane of Thor's life, he thought with an inward growl. Still, he forced it back out of his mind as he remembered just what he'd done.

Horror washed through him. "Jane, I'm so sorry." he breathed. "I've ruined your graduation." Surely that was why she was here. To tell him off. Or maybe just hiding from the thousands of people who he'd shamed her in front of. Either way, Thor felt guilty. And very afraid - had he just blown his last chance?

The thoughts soured his mind as they ran freely. That was it, he thought. That was what he'd done. And he could never take it back. Jane must be here to give a final goodbye before she drove off into the sunset.

Then he noticed the emptiness of his hand, feeling strangely light. "The ring..." he murmured more to himself than to anyone.

Jane seemed to ignore him, eyes lowering to her hands fiddling in her lap. "How did you change the back drop?"

"I have a friend that was responsible for it today." Thor more grumbled than anything else as he righted himself against the bed's headboard, ignoring his body's protests. His eyes scanned around him for the little black box he'd bought from the jewelery store not hours ago. "There was arranged for music to play too..."

"No, it did play." Jane cut in, he cheeks blushing - something Thor caught out of the corner of his eye. He stopped his shuffling to watch the softness wash into her orb and small smile. She didn't look upset like he'd expected. She looked... happy. Really? "Mumford and Sons. I Will Wait." Another small shrug that tugged up her smile sweetly. "You were just too electricuted to hear it at that point."

So she knew everything, Thor thought. She heard the music, saw the backdrop, had gaped when he'd got down on one knee and asked her to marry him... there was no way she could mistake his intentions.

But Thor had betted on her being angry, if he was honest. Angry or sad. Even if she'd said yes, he'd guessed that just the knowledge of what he was apologising for would bring her hurt back before she surrendered to loving him. He'd been sure of it. So to see Jane, relaxed, smiling...he couldn't help frowning suspiciously. For once, he was at a loss for words.

His eyes glazed over her, drinking in her blushing face, her sparkling eyes - her _smile!_ Her soft brown hair fell over her shoulders, it's sheen and gorgeous colour emphasised by the red fringing of her graduation.

Thor suddenly became conscious of his own outfit - jeans and a scrubby black shirt. He hadn't thought it'd matter what he'd wore today when he'd pulled on the graduation gown on in his appartment that morning. But now... now he wished he'd made more effort for proposing to the woman he loved, not to mention in front of the whole university.

"Your father's nice." Jane said, cutting off his thoughts. Her smile grew into a gentle chuckle and Thor felt his heart swell. Jane was.. happy. He didn't give a damn about how, about why - this was the first time he'd seen her _really_ smile since they broke up. "I spoke to him when they were bringing you here. I told him I'd be here when you woke up, so he could go see Loki graduate."

_Of course_, Thor thought in his head_, they woundn't stop the ceremony for one idiot, would they?_ His thoughts finally dampened as he looked to Jane, still looking a little lost in her own.

"I've really messed this up, haven't I?" he breathed, a hand rising to comb through his hair. His head felt numb with horror. He couldn't believe he'd done that...

Jane sighed, her head shaking. "You're such an idiot."

_That was it_, Thor thought, catching the dull tone to Jane's voice, watching her face fall sadly. He couldn't make her happy, after all. Maybe it was better for Jane then if she left here with Matt Chisten. He seemed to have a better clue than Thor did when it came to Jane.

Thor's heart ached in his chest, but he forced himself to stay strong. He'd tried his best. It just wasn't enough. He sighed heavily, preparing himself for the pain when Jane left. He wasn't sure how he'd hold up. The reality was really setting in - Jane would walk out the door and he'd never see her again. Ever. Maybe once or twice in the newspaper or on the news, but never really _see_ her.

He leaned forward. He had to square things between them, so at least if she ever did think of him it wasn't with hate. "Jane, I'm so - _umph_!"

The breath was knocked of Thor as Jane suddenly flung herself at him, her mouth crashing down on his. His eyes shot wide as Jane's arms threw around his neck, trying to piece together _what the hell was happening _in his mind.

Jane was... kissing him?! Her mouth moved fevently against his and Thor's heart hummed with completion, but he couldn't find the will to move, to do anything but frown. _This had to be some sort of dream_, he thought as Jane's lips lightly brushed off his, her hands winding down to brace on his shoulders. He must be delerious with dread.

Real or not, Jane's head lifted back and the most beautiful smile Thor had ever seen graced her lips. He sucked in a breath. What the hell was happening to him, he thought in a daze.

Her hand cupped his cheek, her thumb gently stroking the rough hairs of his beard. "But at least you're my idiot."

Thor blinked. _What? _Jane hovered over him still, her soft brown eyes staring into his. Had... had Jane just said what he thought she had said? No, he told himself. He must be officially dreaming.

That snapped him back to his senses. His mouth closed, his eyes darkening and he watched as 'Jane's' eyes roundened with confusion, backing off him slightly. _Yeah_, Thor thought darkly, his imagination was being too cruel now. This wasn't fair. He'd wake up from this and Jane would be perched at the end of his bed, was going to explain what happened to him all over again, then say goodbye.

Thor's hands rose to brush the dream away, out of his head, to bring him back to reality. He was fully prepared for his fingers to ghost right through 'Jane', to snap him back awake - he did not expect for his palms to grip Jane's solid waist. The hostility snapped out of his face in an instant, and swear words had a field day in his head.

All that came out of his mouth though was: "Oh my God." His eyes were wide and horrified. Jesus, he'd been about to shrug her off! This wasn't imaginary - it was real.

Jane's face smoothed out with a smile, chuckling. Her hand stroked down over his cheek down to his neck, watching Thor's eyes flitter with panic, feeling the breaths rise in his chest.

"B-but," he stammered, brow knitting together with his own confusion. Jane found it absolutely adorable. "But you're mad at me, you're with Matt Chisten..." the breath finally shuddered from him, and Jane felt her heart melt at the glistening in Thor's orbs. He looked like a kicked little puppy dog - but Jane knew he was just cautious. She had violently refused him over the last week. "I don't understand." he finally breathed.

Jane leaned back to give him space to breath, but not enough to shrug his hands off her waist. She ignored the rational thinking that stabbed in her brain, never wanting to listen to it ever again for it telling her to ditch Thor for good. Her heart was thudding in her head. Her be mad? - she'd been scared he'd be mad for getting tasered for her!

She put a finger to his lips to silence him, not wanted to be reminded of any of it. "Stop it, Thor." she ordered. "I don't care. I don't want to remember. I love you."

"Oh." Thor mumbled, his warm breath tickling her fingertip. His eyes fluttered, and Jane smiled as the panic, the hostility - any trace what so ever of anything other than pure bliss - washed out of him entirely. "Okay."

Jane didn't wait for another word.

She swooped in and pressed her lips against Thor's, humming as his arms tightened, crushing her to him. His back leaned forward off the headboard, flattening Jane flush with him entirely, forcing her knees either side of his hips. Thor didn't care about forwardness - he'd missed her. And judging by the enthusiasm which she met him, she'd missed him too. Her fingers gripped his hair - fully gripped! - refusing to let him go as they kissed hard and fast.

Jane wanted to forget it all, letting Thor's strong arms chase the bad stuff away. Matt Chisten, that blonde girl, the fight... everything. Just Thor. Kind, sweet, sensitive Thor who'd made a mistake.

Jane understood that now. She'd understood the minute she'd stepped out her appartment door with Matt Chisten. She couldn't be rude, but that had meant something very different for Thor. Then she understood how one little thing - like letting a girl into your appartment - could be taken in such a different, disasterous way.

"I love you." she blurted between kissed, though she couldn't bear to be parted from his mouth for long. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Thor's mouth was hot on hers, his arms strong and solid around her. "Jane." he half growled, half sighed.

A part of Jane wanted to just go and lock the medical door and stay here kissing Thor - or more, thinking of the hardness in Thor's lap and the lust pooling in her own orbs - but she held off, pulling her mouth off Thor's as her lungs screamed for oxygen. She gasped in air, her forehead thudding lightly to meet Thor's. His large fingers rose to stroke through her hair.

Jane could feel his heart hammering in his chest, and she wondered just how much she'd broken it over the last week. She gulped back the guilt. "There's something ... I have to tell you." Jane said breathlessly.

Thor's hands combed through her hair as he eased her into a hug. He didn't want to be seperated by her for a minute. He buried his face into the side of her neck and breathed her in, feeling warm and complete at last. It was almost too good to be true - but he was so not complaining! A contented growl rumbled from him into her skin, sending shivers up her spine.

She let him hold her close, putting her mouth in perfect position by his mouth: "I forgive you." she whispered.

xxx

Thor felt in a dream... but he wouldn't make that mistake again. He wouldn't degrade what was happening around him anymore - he would seize it with both hands.

He froze for a second, holding onto his breath as the words echoed round his head. Then his hands found Jane's shoulders and gently peeled her back, her calm, warm smile settling his racing heart. "Truly?" he asked her, his voice wavering. With every passing second, the glistening fragility peeked further through the firm sincerity of his orbs. He swore to whatever would hear him that he'd never ask for anything ever again if only he could be granted this one wish.

Jane's lips deepened her smile, her fingers rising to stroke their backs along Thor's cheek. "I mean it, Thor." she said softly. "I want us to be together again. I want us to forget everything that happened. Please. I'll leave it all behind if you'll just take me back."

The breath left Thor slowly and shakily, the smile breathing on his lips. "Oh Jane." he sighed, his hand stroking through her hair. "I'll never let you go."

His arms crushed around her and Jane closed her eyes as her lips met Thor's. Thor as her boyfriend again. As hers. His mouth caressed hers passionately, his hand cupping her cheek as if to prove the action was not in mindless lust, that he cared for her. It made Jane's heart bleed - with gratitude. A part of her had been terrified he'd say no. She knew it was stupid. He'd propose to her, but then being tasered would change his mind about him wanting her? Ludicrous... but she had been afraid.

Until now, Thor's lips kissing away any bad between them. Jane promised herself she would never let him go. Not again...she pulled her mouth off his, grazing their lips together tenderly. "Are we good?" she breathed.

Her heart was racing as she felt Thor's lips curve into a soft smile, his hand rising to cup the side of her her head. She wasn't sure if she could survive without him again. She never wanted to feel so lonely ever again. Thor's mouth eased forward, pecking her on the lips. "We're good."

Jane let herself melt into his hold. So she felt the way he tensed easily.

Thor eased her back, picking her off his lap as if she weighed nothing. Jane's eyes were round but her brow furrowed with confusion at the same time as Thor set her down on the bed. She drank in the hard, serious look in his eye. Thor didn't give her time to decode it though; he turned and slipped from the bed, his hands lingering over the headboard in case he'd overestimated the post- tasered strength of his legs. To his relief though, he stayed firm.

"What happened to the ring?" He asked as he wondered round to the end of the bed, searching. There was nothing there but Jane's degree though, the paper rolled up and tied with a neat red ribbon.

Jane shifted so her legs were hanging off the side of the bed. Her hands fiddled in her lap. "You dropped it when you got tasered." she told him, her eyes on her knees."I picked it up before it could get lost ... or before Darcy could give it a value estimate." she chuckled, eyes flickering up with . smile. She saw the question in Thor's eyes though and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Your father took it." She finally revealed.

Thor's eyebrow lifted. "My father... took it?"

Jane nodded wordlessly. Then she decided Thor deserved an explanation and sighed. "He said it was a stupid thing for you to do. That you weren't ready. That you aren't thinking straight."

She didn't miss the way Thor gulped. "And what do you think?" she'd never had a chance to give him an answer on the field. Or if she had, Thor had been too electrocuted to hear it.

He pushed back the brief flash of anger at his father as he stepped closer to Jane...and got down on one knee. He clasped one of her small hands in both of hi large ones, catching her glistening brown eyes and holding them. It was the proposal that mattered, he told himself, not the ring. His orbs were filled with a tenderness that made Jane want to cry at how gentle, determined and loving they seemed to be, all at the same time.

"Jane," Thor started in as steady a voice he could muster. Odd, he thought, he never felt this crippling nervousness when he'd got down on his knees on the field. Now that they were alone though..."I meant what I said." His eyes listened with sincerity as he brought Jane's knuckles to his mouth, kissing them tenderly. "I want to marry you, Jane Foster."

The breath caught in Jane's throat, and she gulped. Thor was serious. He hadn't been just desperate. Well, he had, but he'd meant it. He really wanted to marry her..."What say you, Jane?" Thor gently coaxed.

Jane's head span and she blinked furiously to right herself. She couldn't believe she was really here, being asked this. When she'd woke up this morning, the worst she'd imagined she'd have to do was see Thor. But now she was making a choice that would affect the rest of her life. She hadn't expected this. Not at her age. But the look in Thor's eyes and his words on the field told Jane he was sure; he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

She laced her fingers through his hair, trucking it back behind his ear. "I ..." Her eyes were soft as her hand came to rest over his cheek. "I think your father was right, Thor."

She watched the light drain from Thor's eyes with a heavy heart. She could as good as see his heart sinking in his chest. Her thumb stoked over the stubble of his cheek, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his other one. He didn't move, as if numb.

Jane let herself smile as she tried to tease Thor's gaze to look up at hers. Her hand on his cheek angled his face upwards, until his fragile eyes finally lifted, simply glistening vulnerability. Jane found it so endearing. Her heart tugged the longer she looked at him and finally she pulled in a ragged breath. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his softly. "But I want to marry you anyway." she whispered.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"I want it back!"

"You don't understand what you're doing, Thor!"

"You said-"

"I meant a grand gesture, yes, but not marriage!"

Jane touched her fingers to her shaking forehead, unable to believe this day was really happening. Thor had proposed, she'd said yes... and now Thor and his father were having a blazing row in the middle of the field about the ring. Great.

She just wished she could get out of here. The staring during her time on the stage had been bad enough but this... her eyes cast stiffly around her, catching the looks in people's eyes, hearing the mutters. Three guesses what they were talking about, she joked nervously in her head. _Why couldn't Thor just wait till they got some privacy? _she implored in her head, glancing her eyes back to her raging fiance. Why did he have to make a scene like this? Both of them...

Thor was still devoid of his graduation gown, seeming to have abandoned it entirely. Jane clutched his own degree in hand with hers, handed unceremoniously to him as they'd left the medical room, his gown draped over her arm. Jane didn't mind. She didn't care if he looked out of place - if only he would shut his mouth and stop drawing attention to himself! Jane was pretty sure she wasn't dreaming when she flashed her eyes to the university and caught faces staring from the windows, no doubt enjoying the show even from a distance. Jane fought the urge to whine. The sport graduate was oblivious to her odeal as he stood nearly chest to chest with his suited elder, red in the face from shouting.

A light touch on Jane's shoulder wrenched her attention away from the shameful exhibition before her, and she glanced beside her to the twinkling eyes and friendly smile of her future mother-in-law.

"Sorry we had to meet like this." the graceful woman smiled, with an apologetic flicker to her husband and son. Jane just smiled, understanding the woman's embarrassment. "Frigga Odinson. Thor's mother. It's nice to meet you at last beyond a photograph."

Jane ran her fingers awkwardly through her hair, clearing her throat awkwardly. _Thor's mother_...she'd met Odin at the medical room but hadn't met anything of Frigga other than glancing at her frantic face through the door. A flare of panic rose inside her. A million and one unfortunate mother-in-law horror stories racing through her mind. _No_, a voice in her head argued._ Look at her. She's smiling. She's nice. _

She forced out a level breath, fixing her smile on her face hoping it didn't betray the nerves she felt on the inside. What if she didn't like Jane? Weren't some mothers protective of their sons like that?

"Jane Foster." she introduced, offering her hand out politely to Thor's mother. Frigga took it - not in a handshake, but clasping it fondly between both of hers. Her smile was simply heartwarming. In that moment, Jane felt the tension leave her, her lips curving of their own accord.

"Shall we go get something to drink? Get better acquainted?" she suggested, her head jerking back to the boys. "I have a feeling they're going to be a while."

Jane flickered her gaze too. Thor was still lost in the argument, not even noticing Jane or his mother... or anyone really, save for his angry father. Something inside her shrugged. "Yeah." Jane finally agreed, letting Frigga slip her arm in a link with hers. She'd do anything to put some distance between her and Thor while he was drawing attention like this. She did not want to be involved! Her eyes scanned round for the nearest water table but the throng of people were too thick. "I think there's a stand over by the bleachers."

She wasn't sure if that as true or not, the words just tumbling helplessly out of her mouth. What could she say? - she was twitchy. She made a mental note to kick Thor later. The proposal thing was cute, and she didn't regret saying yes one bit... but all the stress he was putting her through, fighting in public, causing a scene, putting Jane at serious risk of a panic attack from all the _stares_ she'd got today... yeah, he had to pay somehow.

Frigga led Jane gracefully through the crowd towards the near empty bleachers, taking Thor's degree gently from Jane's hand. Okay, there was no denying Jane liked Frigga as she weaved them away from their men's disruption, but her heart was still thumping with anxiety.

It bothered her that Odin didn't approve. Thor was too strong willed to back down - he _would_ marry Jane. Whatever happened, she and Odin would end up being family. She just hoped it was on good terms. Frigga hadn't said anything yet, and Loki... Jane hadn't seen him at all that day. What did Frigga think? Did she approve? Did she understand? She seemed calm, ot freaking out like Jane or angry like Odin so that had to be a good sign, right?

She wanted to ask. To say _something_. Even just polite conversation, but her throat was painfully dry, her mind blank of inspiration. Maybe she did need a drink after all, she thought, trying to gulp down her panic.

She let Frigga lead her, too numb to do anything else. It didn't take long for them to get to the bleachers, and they walked down the front, aiming for the aisle in the middle. There was always soe sort of refreshment around the bleachers, Jane reasoned, thinking of all the high school football games she'd been dragged to before.

When they got to the aisle, however, Frigga paused instantly turning her smile away. Jane wasn't quite so quick; she caught the rolling eyes of her future mother-in-law but stumbled forward a step before Frigga's linked arm tugged her back. Jane glanced at Frigga questioningly, frowning with confusion. The woman's eyes were sparkling, her lips pressed together in a smirk.

_What?_ Jane started to ask in her head. Then she turned her eyes down the aisle, and her mouth snapped shut. _Ah._

Two figures were pressed up intimately against the scaffolding holding up the bleachers, their lips locked together in a fierce kiss. Jane struggled to pin point whose hands were whose, grappling to pull the other closer.

It took her a minute to understand the blush that coloured Frigga's cheeks, but her eyes popped wide when she did. The dark hair gave it away in the end - that was_ Darcy and Loki_! A grin that matched Frigga's crept on Jane's lips as they turned away, a part of her dying with embarrassment at what they'd just witnessed. But another part was glowing to happiness. She knew Darcy had broken up with Loki because of her and Thor. She was glad the damage wasn't permenant.

She'd just made a mental note to ask Darcy about it later as she and Frigga mixed back with the people, when the words just spilled from her mouth: "What do you think?"

Frigga stopped and turned, her gentle eyes locking onto Jane's suddenly anxious ones at Jane's abrupt question. "I'm sorry, dear?"

Then Jane had a mini panic attack in her mind - what the hell had she just asked?! Her insides washed ice cold with panic as the question that had been bugging at the back of her mind finally gained freedom, the dread of a bad answer kicking in. That was what had stoped her asking earlier. What if Frigga didn't approve? What if Frigga didn't want her to marry her son?

The woman's brow was lightly furrowed as she waited patiently for Jane to repeat herself. Jane gulped, trying to gather her nerve again. She couldn't just brush it off now. "I mean.." she started, trying to find the right words. "Do you approve? I know Odin's angry but..." she gulped again, feeling her hands clam up with nervous sweat. "What do you think?"

She watched the pieces click in Frigga's eyes with a knotted stomach. Even when the smile blossomed and the arm squeezed hers fondly, she couldn't relax.

"I think my son knows what he wants." she finally said, her eyes sparkling kindly. "And you do too. Odin's just worried, dear. But when Thor came back to England, he was... a different son to the one we'd left behind. A good different." she chippped in, the way Jane's heart skipped a beat, evident on her paling face. "He seemed happier, more responsible, more considerate... he'd grown up into a man at last."

Jane felt the smile flicker on her face; she wasn't angry. She wasn't even irritated. Or hesitant. Frigga seemed- or at least, that's what it sounded like to Jane - to approve.

Still, her heart stopped for a moment as Frigga unlaced her arm from Jane's. "I don't want to tell you how to live your life." she went on, a little more solemnly. "But if you truly feel the way I think you do about my son and if he does you, then I don't see why you shouldn't be together."

Jane's eyes were captivated by Frigga's face. By the sincere look in her eye. So she didn't notice the woman's hand search subtly through her bag - not until Frigga's gaze dropped to her rising hand.

"That's why," she said, unfurling her fingers. Delicate sky blue tissue paper sat in her palm, but Jane wasn't stupid enough to think there wasn't something wrapped inside it. She forgot to breath as Frigga's fingers peeled the paper back to reveal it's treasure. And she gasped when they did. "I think I should give you this."

Jane's heart was in her mouth as she stared down at the ring in Frigga's palm. The thick silver band clasped around a large, square, bright blue stone, such a dazzling colour it made Jane's breath catch. It was beautiful. The sunlight shone off the ring wonderfully; there was no way this was any ordinary ring.

Frigga proved Jane right seconds later: "It was my mother's engagement ring." she explained, brushing the last of the tissue away softly. "And mine. It's been passed down in the family for generations." Her warm eyes lifted to meet with Jane's stunned ones, the young woman's mouth gaping shamelessly. "That's why I want you to have it." Jane didn't have the will to resist, too shocked and entranced to do anything other than gape in awe, as Frigga took Jane's hand and gently tipped the ring into her palm. "Take it," the woman smiled warmly. "And good luck."

Words failed Jane, her mouth just hanging open silently as she fought to splutter out a response. Thanks. A modest 'I can't accept this' even. But nothing came out, and Frigga closed her fingers around the glorious engagement ring for her.

This was incredible, Jane thought as she closed her mouth at last. To her deep embarrassment, her eyes were a little wet. She was just touched that Thor's mother trusted in them enough to pass on such a treasured possession.

A strength ran through her as she let her fingers hold the ring, feeling it in her palm. Her mouth closed. She had to say something, she thought. She had to show her appreciation somehow. This was collossal!

"I had planned on giving it to Thor after his graduation." Frigga revealed. "I didn't know his father really had put the idea in his head already. But I felt that after his visit and I'd seen how much he'd matured that he was ready to one day make that decision wisely. Although, er," Frigga's eyes flickered over Jane's shoulder, back from where they'd come from. "I think he's a little busy at the minute."

Jane opened her mouth to finally thank the woman for everything she was doing for her, but a thick, muscled arm flung around her shoulders before she had the chance. She glanced up into Thor's still angry face, his hand firming around her upper arm insistently.

"He is unbelievable." he growled darkly. His father, Jane assumed he meant. "He refuses to relent."

Frigga's eyes just sparkled patiently, and Jane smiled, their little secret safe in her closed palm. "Give him time, dear." his mother said softly. "He'll come round."

"He is being impertinent." Thor stormed on. "It was he who suggested the idea to me. And you were no older than we when he proposed so he has no right to claim that we are not ready!"

Jane just sighed. There wouldn't be much getting through to him when he was still so fired up. She remembered what he'd been like when he'd fought Matt Chisten - blind to logic, his way the only way clear in his mind. It was no different now. He sounded like a stubborn child, Jane thought with a playful smirk.

Then his arm fell away and his arm grabbed Jane's upper arm that was closest to him. "Right." he said, giving a light tug on her arm. Jane's heart skipped a beat at the look of solid determination on his face as he took a step away. What was he thinking? He didn't leave her guessing long: "I'm going to buy you a new ring right now. Anything you want. He can't stop us."

_Oh shit_, Jane thought, clasping the ring in her hand tightly. She stumbled a step with his strong hold, and vaguely noticed Frigga slip away behind them with a sly expression on her face. "Wait, Thor!" Her hand grabbed his shirt sleeve and pulled hard, knowing that was the only thing that would get through to him in this state. It worked; he stopped and turned, out of pure surprise that she was asking it of him. No doubt he thought she would have run off into the sunset with him with, no questions asked. Well, she probably would have if he'd have asked her just ten minutes beforehand! The questioning frown dipped into his features as he obliged her.

Her eyes flickered down to his chest as she eased closer, careful to make sure Odin wasn't around to snatch her second engagement ring. Thor's crystal blue eyes dipped to her small fist as she held it up between them... and widened as her fingers unfurled. "Is this-"

"Your mother's, yes." Jane confirmed quickly, before his raised voice could draw attention. "She gave it to me. She said I should have it." Her eyes flickered brightly up to meet Thor's. "She wished us good luck, Thor."

She didn't realise she wanted to smile until it was there on her face. She was just so happy; Frigga approved. Everything would be okay somehow. She and Thor were really going to get married.

And just like that, Thor's irritation was gone; his large hands cupped Jane's small one and he sank to one knee in one fluid motion. Jane swore her heart stopped - more out of mortification than anything. Her eyes flickered around at the stares. Again. "Thor, what are you-" she started to hiss.

"I'm doing this properly." Thor cut her off, prying the ring gently from her palm. He turned her freed hand over, thumb stroking the back tenderly. Jane held her breath as Thor's bright blue eyes lifted to hers, a hopeful smile tugging on his lips that just made her heart melt. "Jane Foster," he rumbled, his eyes glistening and sincere. How could he have gone to this so quickly? He was raging just a minute ago! Still, looking down at him now, there was no part of his face that was tense or angry - his eyes and smile practically glowed with love. "Will you marry me?"

Jane couldn't help but smile, and a brief 'does he really need to ask again?!' ran through her mind. It didn't stop her saying it again though. Her nerves melted away, and she felt like it was only her and Thor on the field as he pressed a kiss to her fingers - her ring finger to be precise. Her heart fluttered in her chest.

"Yes, Thor." She finally said, glad her voice wasn't wavering too much. "I will marry you."

Her cheeks ached her smile was so wide but she honestly didn't care one bit as Thor smoothly slid the ring onto her left hand, his beam lighting up his face beautifully. It was official; there was nothing to stop them.

Thor rose to his feet and engulfed her in his strong arms, crushing her against him. His graduation gown and her degree fell to the ground uncared for as he lifted her clean off her feet, Jane squealing with surprise while she was spun through the air. Her arms clung around his neck, laughing uncontrollably. This was great, she thought, not caring one whit about who was watching, about who stared. _Let them stare_, she thought, _let them stare and wish they were as happy as we were._

Her hands clung to Thor's biceps long after he set her down again, her head spinning with a dizziness that wasn't unpleasant in the slightest. The smile was plastered on her face. Thor bowed his head down, touching his forehead with hers, the both of them just lost in their own little world. Jane didn't know what to say, other than - "I love you." she blurted, hand rising to cup his stubbled cheek.

A breathless smile curved his lips to match hers and Thor saddled in closer, his hands sliding down to find her waist. "And I love you."

Jane felt weightless as Thor angled his chin, gently pressing his mouth onto hers. She didn't think anything could ruin that moment. It was just too perfect...

"Sorry to break up the party."

The dry voice cut through the tender moment like a knife, and the irritation flared up in both of them as if they were sharing it; Jane's eyes narrowed in her head, while Thor was less subtle, growing against her lips for a lingering second. She could practically feel the heat of his temper rising.

Her head peeled away from his and turned to the side to meet their intruder. The voice was unknown to her, not Thor's parents, not Loki or Darce, none of her friends or teachers... her eyes popped wide when she saw who it_ really _was.

"You're..." the man's glasses were whipped off with the hand that wasn't currently pointing directly at Jane, revealing the blunt eyes and world wide recognised face behind them.. She peeled back from Thor in shock, eying the directed fingertip. Thor was less willing to let go, his arms refusing to budge from around her. Jane just twisted in his hold instead, her mouth falling open at the not-so-unknown stranger. "The astrophysicist chick, right? Selvig's kid?"

For a moment, all Jane could do was blink. This was Tony Stark. _The_ Tony Stark. _Holy hell, it was Tony Stark!,_ she started to freak out in her head, though all that showed on her face was round eyes and a significantly paler complexion that before.

Then finally the question hit her ears and she ran through the basis. Question equalled answer... _so answer it!, _she urged frantically in her head.

In the end, an enthusiastic, grinning nod was all she was capable of.

A part of her cringed with embarrassment inside. Here was Tony Stark, coolest person to walk the earth... and Jane was acting like a total dork. She wanted to bury her head in shame. Perhaps it was better if Thor just clubbed her round the back of the head with a rock while she wasn't looking and save her the pain of dying of shame.

With his arms tightening ever more protectively around her middle though, she didn't think that was going to happen. Her cheeks flushed scarlet. She hadn't told Thor that she'd had a _massive_ crush on Tony Stark a few years ago. And now she was meeting him - with her fiance hugging her back to his chest in an iron hold.

Stark hardly seemed to notice ... other than the pause, and the blunt eyes scaling up and down the couple before him. His eyebrow arched for a brief sassy second before he stepped forward and got down to business. "How'd you like a job at Stark Enterprise?"

The world just froze. Jane's heart just stopped in her chest. "I..." he mouth fumbled for words but all she could think through her shock was _'ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod'. _"A-are you serious?!" she finally choked out.

The billionnaire's expression didn't chip. _God, he was so cool_, Jane thought. It was a geek crush. "Good fee, with all the extra goodies that come with working with Tony Stark." Jane was sure she didn't miss the glint in his eye. "Interested?"

Thor answered before she could; his growl vibrated on the skin of Jane's neck, making her heart skip a beat. "She's taken." The sports star snarled, and Jane could practically feel the heat off his warding, unfriendly gaze. He had to be the only one in the country not to be infatuated with Tony Stark!

Stark's eyebrows lifted. "So is that a no to the job or to getting some perks away from your labrador here?"

Jane's lips stretched in a grin and she forced herself not to laugh; she could feel Thor's chest hardening behind her. He probably didn't care who the guy was - rich or not, Thor didn't like being insulted. Although, Jane didn't think 'labrador' was that bad. She liked it; it was cute.

If he was going to be okay with anyone calling him that though, it wouldn't be Tony Stark.

"I want the job." she spilled before Thor could say anything. She wasn't going to let anything ruin her chances now! A job with Tony Stark - the stuff of dreams for her! "I definitely want the job."

Stark nodded, and in her head Jane punched the air with triumph. Perfect guy - check. Perfect job - check. It was official: life complete. "Excellent." he finally nodded, and took a casual step back. "I'll have people contact you when you're a little less..." he waved his glasses up and down the couple in indication. "Busy." he finally settled on.

The blood was pumping loudly in her ear as Stark turned away, and she did too, numbly waddling back to face Thor again. Her eyes were glazed, mouth open in a light, disbelieving smile. This was really happening - incredible!

"Jane, are you alright?"

She blinked back to life and found Thor's glistening orbs instantly, frowning down at her with concern. She guessed she must have paled or something. Or just look in a standing coma. She couldn't help it; too many good things were happening to her today. It as all just overwhelming. Whatever it was that betrayed her stunned-ness, it must have been very obvious for Thor to drop that primal protectiveness so quickly for sensative concern.

"That... that was Tony Stark." Was all Jane could think to say, her hand rising to point in the direction the billionnaire had gone. Every other part of her stayed frozen still, even her eyes unable to do anything other than just blink up at her boyfriend.

Thor carried on frowning, his hands cupping her shoulders. "Yes, but are you feeling alright? You look awfully pale."

So it was paleness. Well, she _had_ just met her hero. She could be excused. Nothing changed: "That was... Tony Stark."_ Wow..._ her mind couldn't seemed to process beyond those four words.

"Jane."

Then something inside her clicked. "No, no, you don't get it." she gushed, snapping back to life sharply. Thor's eyes bolted with surprise at her sudden reaction but he smoothed it out as her bright eyed expression met his, her smile simply beaming. She couldn't believe it! "But that was _Tony Stark_!" she grinned shamelessly, the giggle fighting for air.

She surrended easily, just laughing at how ludicrously wonderful this day had been. Every problem she'd woken up with had been worked out. The dreams she'd longed for since being a child were going to come true. One day. All in one freakin' wonderful day.

Thor leaned back instinctively at Jane's manic burst of laughter, and Jane knew he must think her crazy. His eyes ran up and down her, drinking in her grin, her glittering eyes...crazy or not, a few minutes later his furrowed brow smoothed and he let the smile spread on his lips to match hers, his eyes bright. Her arms flung around his neck as he drew her in for a kiss.

His lips nipped hers back to sense and she let herself just get engulfed by this giant, this wonderful Herculean man that was all hers. And - the light weight on her ring finger never failed to remind her - always would be.

* * *

**Quick question: do you want an epilogue? I don't mind writing one if people want it, but I can't decide whether to do one or end it here. Either way, the end is high. But decide if you want it now or a chapter further away.**

**Let me know.**


	18. Chapter 18

Six years later...

"So..." Darcy arched a sceptical eyebrow. "He's knocked you up for real this time?"

Across the cafe booth, Jane giggled and leaned back in her seat, the six month pregnant bluge of her stomach standing out proudly beneath her checked shirt. She ran her fingers over it fondly, grinning at her friend's dry, blunt expression across the table.

"Oh, come on, that joke was years ago!" Jane insisted, leaning forward to grab her strawberry milkshake, remembering her and Thor's university trick. She guessed Darcy still smarted, her humiliation having no expiration date. She was pretty sure Thor hadn't forgotten that day either - especially after the walloping Darcy had given him for it! "And does this look fake to you?"

Darcy just leaned back, waving a dismissive hand. "I wouldn't put it past you two. After that stunt you pulled at the wedding..."

Jane's milkshake met the table with a thud, her eyes rolling. "How many times do I have to tell you we didn't know what was going to happen until you'll believe me. It was Loki's plan; you should take it up with him not me."

Her mind cast back to her wedding day, the smile beaming on her face as it had been then. It had been a marvelloous day, Thor sparing no expense for their marriage. The church had been massive, the party huge... and Jane had found out just how rich her husband and his family truly were! Nothing had been spared, right down to her increidble dress, A-grade food and enough guests to fill an entire small village.

One thing they hadn't bargained on though, that hadn't been planned, was their best man getting down on one knee and proposing to their maid of honour at the reception. Still, it had been eventful.

"But it was embarrassing!" Darcy exclaimed with a wild expression in her eyes, hands clawing at air for emphasis. "I mean, who proposes at their brother's wedding, huh?!"

Jane just shrugged. "Loki apparently." She smiled, taking a sip of strawberry milkshake. She watched Darcy's eyes narrow with irritation. "So when's the wedding?" she went on to ask calmly, ignoring her friend's blunt, unamused expression. "Set a date yet?"

There was a brief pause, but Jane smiled when she saw the excited spark of life in Darcy's orbs, quickly and coolly subdued. Embarrassing as it had been, it hadn't stopped her saying yes. "April." she finally revealed, sitting back and taking a sip of her coffee. The coy little smile on her face was unmistakable.

Jane's grin widened, hand smoothing over her baby bumb. Her thumb stroked over the shirt and skin that covered her six month old baby. "I'm due in April."

Darcy's eye hardened instantly, the smile stiffening. "You pop your baby out at my wedding and you'll have hell to pay." she warned darkly. "I'll put gum in your precious husband's hair if I have to." She folded her arms across her chest settling back in the booth sassily. "I want perfect weather too, so put some chemical in the air or rearrange the stars for sumny skies. Whatever it is you astrophysicists do."

The laugh burst forth before Jane could help it, but she didn't regret it for a second, even as Darcy arched a challenging eyebrow. "So the fate of my husband's hair rests with the success of your wedding?"

A nod. "Precisely."

Oh, Jane had missed Darcy. She didn't get much of a chance to see her friend since they'd left university, Jane busy with work. She couldn't help it; she loved her job too much.

Thor had often complained that she worked too many hours, but he could hardly do anything about it. He was glad to see his wife happy. And Stark Enterprise payed her well for it, payed both of them - Stark had hired Thor to be his personal trainer. Jane absolutely loved it.

"We're going to go to Greece for our honeymoon." Darcy told her rather proudly. "There's a nice little island that gets plenty of sunshine." she shrugged: "Better than Britain."

Thor and Jane had had their honeymoon in an english cottage in the countryside, getting away from the busy American cities Jane had only ever known. It had been nice to see where her husband had been born and raised, to see his home. But she could understand why that wouldn't appeal to Darcy. She was more of a sunshine and sand girl.

"Whatever." Jane smiled. She slurped at her drink as she drained the last of it, licking her lips with a smack. "Thor's coming to get me soon. Wanna say hi?"

Darcy drained the last of her coffee. "Gum's at the ready." She pushed her cup away and picked up her coat, slipping it smoothly around her shoulders. "Is bubba a boy or a girl? Am I going to get nephew or neice?"

Jane stretched her arms before she slid out the booth and pulled her coat on too. "We don't know." she admitted, loosely fastening her scarf around her neck and folding her coat over her body, belly too round to do it up. "We wanted it to be a surprise. We've got names on standby for both."

Another sarcastically raised eyebrow met her as Jane laced her arm through Darcy's. "How can it be a surprise? It's going to be a boy or a girl, you know that much. The only way it's going to be a surprise is if you give birth to a puppy instead of a human."

A buzz from Jane's phone caught their attention, but they didn't alter their slow pace as they neared the door. Jane had just flipped the phone open, Thor's text gleaming on the screen - when the man himself filled the doorway, boyish grin blooming on his face at the sight of his wife.

His eyes barely flickered to Darcy, focused on Jane as her own beam blossomed. "Hello, Darcy." he breathed, arms bracing against the doorframe as the two women waddled closer smoothly. "Long time no see."

"Alright, Goldilocks." Darcy nodded. "Keeping up the World's Strongest Man look, I see." she smirked, eyes rolling admiringly up and down Thor's figure, still evidently bulky with muscle even through his coat and jeans.

He stepped back from the doorway onto the street, walking backwards into the cafe carpark to brace his boot on the curb. The women followed, Jane unlacing her arm from Darcy's to walk up to her husband.

"Jane." Thor grinned that smile he knew she loved. "You ready to go?"

Jane was stunned as her husband grinned at her, leaning forward to press a kiss on her cheek. She didn't move, eyes fixed behind Thor's hulking body to the vehicle that flashed in time with his thumb jabbing the keys. "Thor..." she started warily, bracing her hands on his shouders and moving him aside. "What the hell did you do?"

She took slow, cautious steps towards the massive Land Rover not quite believing that she was really seeing it here, with her husband. _Please say he's just looking after it for a friend_, Jane begged in her head. _Please!_

A large hand clamped down on her shoulder as Thor saddled up beside her, his other hand cupping her stomach through her coat. "What do you think?" he purred in her ear.

Jane's hand rose, pointing at the car. The frown was deep in her brow. "What... what is that?"

"That is so cool!" Darcy screeched from behind her, no doubt in fits. Jane could feel her friend's beam on her back, grinning. Darcy must be loving this...

"It's a car." Thor answered calmly. "Our car. I wanted a better set of wheels for you and Dustin to drive around in. Nothing but the best for my family."

"Wait." Darcy cut in from behind, walking round to Jane and Thor's front. Her eyes were alight and mischevious. Her mood must have boosted at Jane's despairing look. "I thought you said you didn't know what the baby was. Why is he calling it a boy's name?"

Jane's eyes rolled, and she could feel Thor's grin beside her. She nudged her husband in the ribs. "_Thor_ is under the impression it's going to be a boy." Her lips pursed as she folded her arms over her chest. "Dustin means Thor's stone. My husband's ego is too big."

"I wonder why we don't get along." Darcy grinned. "We're so alike."

Jane's elbow hit back into Thor's ribs again as he opened his mouth tugging herself free of his arms. "Thor, we do not need a new car. The one we had was fine."

That was one problem Jane always struggled with Thor, as she sighed and touched her fingers to her forehead: his impulsive buying. In one way, she couldn't fault it - it had been the impulse that had had Thor running to buy her an engagement ring on her graduation day. But then there were things like this. The latest was the car. Before that was the pool installment in their house that Jane had had a surprise with when she'd come back from her five day business trip. Her husband wasn't half high maintenance sometimes. He was just a big kid.

"How are you supposed to look after baby when you haven't grown out of that hase yet, huh?" she chuckled disbelievingly, turning round to him. The minute she saw his grin though, the smile stuck.

She reached out and laced her fingers through his golden hair. "You big dummy." Her head shook lightly, but her grin betrayed her true lightheartedness.

Thor's grin settled and he eased closer with a smug grin, his hands finding where her waist used to be, thumbs stroking her bump. "But I'm your dummy." he breathed, pecking a kiss on his wife's lips. His eyes were sparkling when he pulled back. "And just think - we'll need that extra space when the rest of them come." His palm carressed his unborn child for emphasis.

The smirk teased on Jane's lips before she fully gave in. Her skipping heart did it; more children. Thor wanted to have more children with her than just this one.

"Well, in the meantime," Darcy cut in, wondering round to the couple's side. "How about you give me a lift to the airport, big guy?"

Her hand clapped on Thor's back, momentarily widening his eyes in surprise - they soon softened though as his lips bumped Jane's. He felt her smile against her mouth and wound her arms around his waist, pulling him closer. Thor's thick fingers laced through her hair as he kissed her softly, lovingly.

"I love you." Jane breathed, her hand falling over Thor's over their six month old child inside her.

Thor eased his mouth off his wife's, touching his forehead with hers as his eyes scoured her face. She looked just as beautiful as the day he asked her to be his girlfriend, as the day he asked her to marry him. He pressed a chaste kiss to her mouth. "And I love you."

His heart swelled with love as he watched Jane's lips curve into a smile, chuckling. "You're crazy." she giggled, letting Thor's hands hug her tighter.

He just shrugged and kissed her again, beaming. "Love's crazy." He smirked. "Now, come on. If we don't get Darcy to the airport we'll be stuck with her for another week."

"I heard that!"


End file.
